True Vamp
by Allebasii
Summary: Edward leaves bella, who tries to follow him; Ash, a vampire, a different species from the Cullens, finds her and turns her.Follow them on Bella's journy as she learns the ways of the True Vampires. Winner of the Bite Me Awards 'Most Unique' category.B/OC
1. Dawn

** True Vamp Chapter one: Dawn**

I could feel it, when the sun set. Even asleep in my coffin, buried six feet under, I could feel it when that deadly, burning light was gone from my part of the earth. Opening them, my eyes took in the old, ancient wood about an inch from my nose. The air was stale, but I didn't mind. Only the old, musty scent of the bones, collapsed to ash under the weight of the years, held any bother for me.

Taking a deep breath through my mouth, I held it and pushed my arms up and out of the top of the ruined coffin I had 'borrowed'. Making sure my mouth was shut and eyes closed, I began to dig up, feeling the dirt that had been held up by the damaged wood falling in cascades down onto my face.

When I finally broke through to the surface, I opened my eyes wide and listened closely, making sure no mortals were around to see. Though it would have been an easy job to get rid of them, and it would get rid of the thirst burning my throat; making it ache.

Shaking the grime out of my black hair, I stood up without difficulty and, once again, checking that I was alone, quickly but carefully replaced the dirt over the grave I had slept in. Once it was done to my satisfaction, and I was sure no mortal would notice any difference, I glanced at the gravestone, curious:

'_**Here lies Reginald Walker, beloved Brother, Son, and Husband.'**_

I looked away, wondering in the back of my mind what the man had been like when he was alive. But then I shook my head. It was pointless to dwell on the living. Quickly dusting off my old-English clothes, I turned toward the forest. Leaping over the high, old-fashioned black-iron fence, I quickly sprinted into the cover of the trees.

I knew I was heading away from the city, but I also knew that there were houses that edged the woods that would be much easier to break into and get out of without attracting notice. As I ran, I listen to the sounds of the night around me tirelessly. There was nothing in the natural world that was not beautiful, to me or any other vampire of my race.

Yes, there were different races of vampires; _my_ kind were the most ancient, the most powerful, with more strength, speed, and power of mind then any of the hybrids, no matter how young the fledgling. But our kind were dying out, only others of our kind knew about us anymore, and the few superstitious mortals only recognized the hybrids for what they thought they were.

Though weaker by far then us, the hybrids had three abilities we would never posses, and that was what had started their rise in population, and what made ours die out.

They could go out in the sunlight, without fear of burning. They could not sleep, and so were not trapped in the vulnerable state that we were during the day. And last but not least, they had no blood, and instead had venom, which they used to make their 'newborns', which in their first months of life were as strong as any of our kind.

No one but the most ancient of us knew how the hybrids had come about; some said they were descended from one of our kind who had mated with a human. And there were no Ancients left, no one to tell the tales of the ancient world, none that any I knew of, and some considered _me_ an Ancient, though I had meet some older than me. 500 years is not old for an immortal.

Suddenly I heard a noise up ahead. I looked up and saw in the distance a male hybrid running toward me. He would not have spotted me yet; their eyes were weaker, and their ears not as sensitive. I quickly leaped straight to the top of a tree perpendicular to my original path.

As he ran toward and past my tree, crossing over my scentless trail, I examined his face closely. His hair was auburn, his skin a milky white, almost as pale as mine, but his eyes were the most interesting feature: they were gold; something I had heard of in hybrids, but had never seen, and they were filled with such a tortured light that I felt sorry for him.

As he ran past, I could hear dry sobs—(hybrids could not cry)—coming from his throat. _What's with him?_ I thought as I looked after him. Then I shrugged. It didn't matter, because now I could hear the voice of a lone female mortal, calling out to the wind, (the hybrid could hear her, surely, so why did he not feed?) in her despair: _"Edward!"_

I smiled grimly at the prospect of a fresh kill. In a way, I did not enjoy killing, the taking away of a life, but the feeling of the sweet nectar that was blood rushing down your throat and filling your body with warmth; seeing normally white skin turn flush with the blood flowing under the skin, as it once had when you were mortal, feeling as if you were floating on the air…there was nothing like it, no words to describe it to its fullest.

I quickly decided to stay in the trees for an added advantage (not that I needed one) in the hunt. Quick as a flash and quiet as the wind, I leaped from tree to tree, following the female's cries as she stumbled in the forest ahead.

I quickly found the female, and circled in the trees around her to get the best angle of descent. I was about to leap down to end her life, as I had so many others, when I noticed something. She was crying quietly, laying on the ground in the fetal position. I was curious; what was wrong with her?

Quietly, making no noise, I jumped down from my perch and landed beside her in the grass, just watching her; head cocked to the side. "He's gone…He's gone…" she whispered in a heart broken voice. Suddenly I felt a flare of sympathy and loneliness engulf me. How long was it that I had wandered alone? For how many years have I walked this earth, with no voice other than my own thoughts?

I knew now, what I was going to do.

"Hello, _mon ange mortel, les soins au gout enternity?"_ I whispered to her, slipping back into my native French. Below and beside me, the girl stirred at the sound of my voice, and slowly, she rolled over to look at me, just as, miles away in the distance, I could hear the howl of a wolf-pack, too low for a mortal to hear.

On the wind, the scent of an odd mixture of wolf and human scent that meant one thing: Lycans.


	2. Changed

**True Vamp Chapter 2: Changed**

Previously: _"Hello_, mon ange mortel, les soins au gout enternity_?" I whispered to her, slipping back into my native French. Below and beside me, the girl stirred at the sound of my voice, and slowly, she rolled over to look at me, just as, miles away in the distance, I could hear the howl of a wolf-pack, too low for a mortal to hear._

_On the wind, the scent of an odd mixture of wolf and human scent that meant one thing: Lycans._

**(Ash PoV)**

_Lycans!_ I must move quickly if I am to change this girl. Swiftly, I leaned down towards the girl, who was now staring at me with blank, chocolate brown eyes, rimmed red with tears that still flowed down her face. "Quickly, _Mon chere,_ would you be immortal? Would you let me change you?" I asked in a rushed voice; to make a Fledgling, you needed permission from the human in question.

Her eyes widened for a second before she nodded vigorously, still with that dazed look in her eyes. Did she even know what I was asking? But a second later my teeth were at her neck, fangs piercing the skin as her sweet blood coursing through her veins pumped through my mouth and down my throat.

Just when there was barely any blood left to keep her alive, I stopped and bringing my own wrist to my mouth, I drew blood using my fangs again, and brought my arm to her mouth, letting a few drops fall into it. She didn't respond, and for a few seconds I feared that I had killed her and then—her eyes, which had been half-closed, now opened wide and were shining with an almost crazed light.

Her mouth locked onto my wrist and I could feel as the blood was pulled from my own veins and into her, as it had been reversed only seconds ago. Just as I felt a sharp pain in my still-beating heart, (unlike the hybrids, who didn't have a heartbeat) she released my arm and fell to the ground with a gasp.

I watched in mild fascination, as all the blood was drained from her already pale face; her hair grew to waist length and darkened to an almost black, and as her eyes darkened from their chocolate-brown to an almost black color, that if you looked closer, had specks of every color in the rainbow in them. After a few seconds, she blurred into a crouched position, staring at me and at the woods surrounding her in undisguised fascination.

All of this had happened in a matter of minutes, and the lycans were still running toward us. I could see them now, and knew there would be no time to run; for they had seen us too. But what I also saw was this: these were not Lycans as I had first thought; they were Shapeshifters of the wolf kind. Unfortunately, Shapeshifters were still strong enough to injure one of our kind, sometimes fatally, especially an inexperienced fledgling.

I cursed. There was only one way to resolve this without a fight. I wasn't even sure if she would be able to do it. "Quickly, think _wolf!"_ I shouted at her, and her head whipped around to stare at me in confusion. "What?" she asked, in a slightly panicky voice, sensing my fear and anxiety.

"_Think WOLF!" _I shouted, an instant before I blurred into non-existence for a millisecond, and then, in my place I knew, was a massive wolf, so large, it would rival the size of an African Rhinoceros.

Behind me, the girl (how did I not know her name yet? I'll need to ask her…) copied my movement exactly, stunning me for a second, but before I could do anything more than stare, the wolf-shifters were upon us.

**AN: sorry this chapter's so short; and i'll have the link, or at least a way to get to the picture next chap. unfortunatly, i forgot to mention something that was mentioned in this chap's previous AN that you'll find out about sono enough...**


	3. Wolves

**True Vamp Chapter 3:Wolves.**

**Previously:** _Behind me, the girl (how did I not know her name yet? I'll need to ask her…) copied my movement exactly, stunning me for a second, but before I could do anything more than stare, the wolf-shifters were upon us._

**(Ash Pov)**

The second I had turned into my wolf form, I could hear all of the wolf-shifter's thoughts, along with the girl's—who I now knew to be Bella Swan—and I knew that the largest wolf-shifter, a black-furred male, was Sam Uley of the Quileute Tribe, and was 'Alpha' of this pack.

I also knew, from experience, that I _might_ be able to overwhelm the Alpha's mind, and once that was achieved, I would be able to control the entire pack, and make it so that they would leave in peace. So thinking this thought, I pushed out with my mind, wrapping my consciousness around this Sam's and battering my will against his own. The three wolves were all frozen, unprepared for this kind of attack. The first one to recover was a large grey one—Paul, I knew from his mind—and while I was distracted trying to control the Alpha, he and a dark brown wolf—Jared—leaped behind my back at Bella while the Alpha himself launched himself at me.

I leaped over the Alpha's back and twisting in mid-air, I was able to land facing his back, and just as he was about to turn around, I tackled him to the ground. I was just about to place my jaws around his neck to snap it, when behind me I heard a scream of terror and pain.

I turned so fast that to the pack I was nothing but a blur; and what I saw behind me made my heart skip a beat. Bella, my second Fledgling, had turned back into her human—well, vampire form anyway—in the heat of battle. Blood was everywhere, and now I could see why: one of the two wolves had _ripped_ one of her arms off, and the other was going in for the kill, while Bella retreated, her eyes wide with terror, her own blood splashed across her face.

_NO!_ My mind shouted. _Not again! Never again! _**"**_**NO!"**_ I roared, and barely realizing I had changed back from my wolf form, I leapt, no _flew_ through the air at the two wolves; the giant bat-like wings, which had been folded against my back, now sprang out, sliding through the slits cut in the back of my shirt effortlessly.

Hands out stretched like claws; I rammed into them, grabbed both of the snarling wolves by the scruffs of their necks, and hurled them at their Alpha, who was struggling to his feet with a broken leg. They crashed into him and all three went down hard.

Wings outstretched still, I landed next to Bella, who had fallen to her knees clutching her bloody shoulder. Gasping, tears slid down her face as she looked at me pleadingly, her face etched with pain. Sending a quick glance over my shoulder at the wolves, who were still struggling to stand after being thrown twenty feet through the air, I quickly grabbed Bella's twitching arm from the ground and reopening the bite-mark on my wrist, I let the blood drip onto the edge of her shoulder and arm as I gently pressed them together to start the healing process, all the while murmuring comfortingly, while watching the wolves warily.

After a few seconds the wolves had finally separated themselves and were watching us in confusion. When the grey one, Paul, started edging forward, I hissed at him menacingly, baring my fangs while stretching out my left wing to cover Bella protectively.

The Alpha, Sam, gave a sharp, short bark at him and he sat down again. The Alpha again gave a short bark before backing into the forest. I watched him suspiciously for an instant before I realized he was going to change back into his human form. Having had experience with shape shifters before, I knew that he would have no clothes once he was human again. I was about to take off my coat—an old trench coat, much like the ones detectives wore in this era's films—and give it to the Alpha so that he could cover himself, to protect Bella's eyes as much as my own, when I noticed that all the wolves had a pair of shorts tied around their ankles with a string.

Shortly after the Alpha had retreated into the bushes, he came out again as a russet-skinned man. His hair was black, like mine, but his was cropped short, unlike mine, which was long, in the old fashion. His face was cautious, but held an odd calmness to it.

The other wolves seemed uneasy about their leader being so defenseless. They both walked to his sides, flanking him in case we decided to attack. With the two horse-sized wolves beside him, the Alpha looked comically short, even though he would tower over most of his kind, even those who surpassed him in age.

The Alpha's eyes kept flickering from my wings, to my face, to Bella's, and to the blood that covered the ground around us. Vampire blood. After a couple more seconds of silence, he took a deep breath and:

"What the hell _are you?"_

**AN: Aha! Two updates in a row! Hope you guys liked the chap, sorry if it's kinda short; I started writing it last night at around…midnight, got up and went to bed at around 2:00AM, woke up at 8:00, went to a bunch of clothing stores with my mom and twin ( you know her as Rjalker on here) got a bunch of awesome teeshirts, a pair of jeans, and school supplies.**

** Ok, I'm usually not a shopping-for-cloths kinda person. I usually hate it. but you should see some of the shirts we got! We got:**

** One silver/grey stretchy tee-shirt, that in glittery black and purple letters that says "my other boyfriend's a Werewolf" with the silhouette of a wolf on the bottom,**

**2 tee-shirts that say "Haters make me famous" (I got that because people (usually other girls) make fun of me and my sis because we don't act all girly and loud and obnoxious, oh, and probably because we don't make fun of other people, and don't dress 'fashionably'. (i.e.: brightly colored shirts with slashes in the sleeves—we saw some at the store today and my mom said it was "tacky 80's clothes" lol.**

**We got one white shirt that in blood-red letters says: "Forget **_**princess,**_** I want to be a vampire."(Vampire with blood dripping from the letters)**

**One red shirt that says "good girl gone vampire"**

**And one pink shirt that we're going to give to our stepsister that says "If you think I'm loud, you should hear my mother!" (Lol)**

**So, if you've read this AN, including the boring clothing list, put ALEXANDER somewhere in your review!**


	4. Sunrise

True Vamp Chapter 4: Sun Rise (It'll be from Bella's point of view next chap—I promise.)

(Ash PoV)

"What the hell _are you?"_

I deliberated for a second on whether or not to tell the truth; after all, if he had to ask, it meant he didn't know about _our_ kind, and from the scent that permeated these woods, this Pack had obviously had dealings with Hybrids, perhaps the male that I had seen earlier had been one of them?

Now that I thought of it, Bella had had the lingering scent of a Hybrid on her, before she had been turned and her new vampiric blood had washed all old scents away. Why had the Hybrid been near her, if he had no intention of drinking from, or turning her? Or had he been after something other then blood? I shuddered at the thought and the horrible memory that arose with it.

I decided to be vague, but keep within the lines of truth. "There are many things that I am; I have been called many names: demon; angel; devil; god, I have been both worshiped, and hated." I paused; I could see apprehension and confusion in the Alpha's eyes, though his face stayed calm.

"I have lived for five hundred years, and I am young for my kind, though many fledglings of our species consider me an Elder, as none older than I have been seen for centuries." I paused again; what should I tell them? Suddenly beside me Bella clutched her throat, eyes widening as she gasped. She was starting to get thirsty. I'd have to take her hunting as soon as possible.

Sam's eyes flickered over to Bella; where she sat on her knees, huddled into my side and shivering. Her eyes flicked up and she locked eyes with him before quickly looking away.

Sam stared at her, and then he looked at me again. "You, you're a vampire, aren't you? One of the Old Ones! And you've turned her into one too!" His voice was hard and accusing at the end, almost a growl. He started shaking, and I knew that he was close to attacking. Again. _Oh for the love of…!_

Sighing in exasperation, I did the one thing I should've done the second I saw the wolves coming: I grabbed Bella tightly, but gently—conscious of her almost healed arm— and spreading my wings wide, leaped into the air, rising so high and so fast that before even a second had passed we were high over the tree tops. Bella gasped in fright and I chuckled. She'd get used to it soon enough.

Far below, Sam exploded back into his wolf form with a howl of rage. Turing to the east, and seeing the faint light of dawn—so faint in fact, that no human or even _Hybrid_ would have seen it so early—rising over the horizon, I sighed again.

What a night this must have been for Bella Swan. Knowing that she wouldn't have time to hunt now, I sent her an apologetic glance and flew to the west, away from the sun. I would have to find a safe place for us to sleep, and fast.

And so with Bella Swan, my second Fledgling and daughter of sorts, I flew as fast as I could to the west, with my new companion—if she chose to stay with me that is—in my arms, staring in wonder at the world below her as we raced the dawn.

**AN: I'm sorry it's so short, and if the ending with the wolves was boring…but then again, who said that wolves' involvement in this story was over?**

**Anyways! 10 reviews for this chap! **

**Please?**


	5. Edward

**True Vamp chapter 5: Edward**

**Previously: **_And so with Bella Swan, my second Fledgling and daughter of sorts, I flew as fast as I could to the west, with my new companion—if she chose to stay with me that is—in my arms, staring in wonder at the world below her as we raced the Dawn._

**(Edward PoV)**

Seeing her tortured expression, and feeling the whirlwind of agonized emotion inside me, I could only do the one thing that I hoped would bring us both comfort. I walked forward and kissed her quickly on the forehead. I knew that if I kissed her on the lips, I would not be able to leave. I would breakdown, crying out that it was all a lie; I still loved her! Beg her to take me back.

But I couldn't. Not if I wanted to keep her safe. Not if I didn't want to damn her for eternity due to my own selfishness. Make her a killer. A murderer. Just like me.

Her eyes were closed; I had to leave. Now. But I couldn't. Then an image flashed through my mind: Bella; pale, pale as me, her eyes crimson red, her face twisted in a possessive snarl as she held the body of her father in her arms. Lifeless. Blood covered her mouth, dripping down her chin onto Charlie's dead face. Her blissful smile was radiant.

But then she looked down at her father. Her eyes widened and some mist seemed to clear in her eyes. She let out a scream of horror and anguish, as she begged her father to wake up. Her ruby eyes met mine, as she screamed in my mind: "I hate you!"

With a gasped sob, I realized I had already started running south. Running, away from the meaning of my existence. Just the thought of her sent a stab of agony through my un-beating heart. All I could feel was this hollowness, this pain where my heart once was. _Where was my heart? It felt as if…as if it didn't belong to me anymore._ Yes, that was it. My heart was no longer my own; I had given it to my angel, my Bella. And now I was leaving her, and my heart behind.

Another bout of agony made me gasp as dry-sobs tore themselves up my throat; useless cries that had no purpose, for they did not relieve my pain at all, and who would care if they heard it? No one could comfort me. I had brought this upon myself. Certainly Alice would gain some satisfaction in seeing my pain: she had been one of the most adamant against leaving. But in the end, she had, even if only for Jasper's sake.

Up ahead, something rustled in the treetops. I couldn't smell anything, so I assumed it was just the wind. And what did it matter? If it were something that could hurt me, I'd gladly take the physical pain over this…this gaping hole in my chest.

As I ran, the miles dissolved to nothing under my swift feet, but I knew, I could never be far enough away to not hear Bella's anguished cries, repeating over and over in my head: "_Edward! Come back! Please!"_

When more hours—I didn't bother to count—had passed, possibly even a _day,_ I finally reached my family. They were in our new house: an old mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana. (**I'm sorry, I just HAD to make them move to New Orleans! =D) **As far as we could get from Bella, and temptation without leaving the country.

Also, it was famous for vampiric activities, something Carlisle wanted to study. And there was a certain house here, in the Garden District that hundreds of tourists flocked to, some house on St. Charles Avenue. I heard it was from a book about Witches, or ghosts, I couldn't remember which.

Apparently, the Author of said book, among others, lived in this town as well. Apparently, she also had written books about vampires.

'_Yeah, she definatly _couldn't_ blow our cover'_ Emmett thought sarcastically when he heard that.

**AN: A Shout out to ANNE RICE and all her fans—long live the vampire and witches of her world! **

**(Lol would I be allowed to include Carlisle briefly meeting Anne Rice, or at least her seeing his family/vise versa? Muhahaha, if I am, you will all crack up laughing when she sees them! I'll probably put in an AN chapter. Lololololololollolololol.**

**Sorry about breaking my promise—again—about this chapter being in Bella's PoV. I **_**swear**_** the next chap will be though!**

**Lol, when Edward mentioned that it felt as if his heart didn't belong to him anymore—did that remind anyone else of Star Dust (the movie version) or is it just me?**


	6. Bella

**True Vamp Chapter 6: Bella.**

**(Bella PoV)-(just like I promised!)**

Edward's face was impassive, blank, as he watched my tortured expression. But there was something off about his eyes. Something he was trying to hide. I tried to see what it was, but my treacherous tears obscured my vision. I gasped, sobbing as a stab of pain lanced through my chest and I realized: _He was leaving. He doesn't love me, never did, and now he's leaving!_

Before I could open my mouth to speak—to plead that he stay, that I wouldn't bother him, as long as he stayed here, where I could see him, be near him, anything! —He flashed forward to stand in front of me. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes and willed this moment to last forever as the tears slid down my cheeks. And for a second, it seemed as if time had stopped; that I had gotten my wish.

But then an unnatural wind swept around me and with a cry I opened my eyes to see…nothing but forest. Edward was gone. "No!" I shouted in despair, denying the obvious truth.

"Edward! Come back! Please!" I shouted again, and when there was no answer, I felt the most painful of waves crest though my heart yet. "He's gone," I whispered hoarsely as the realization hit me like a punch to the stomach. "He's gone." _No! That cant be!_ I began to run after him, even as the night deepened. After maybe half an hour, I finally collapsed on the ground in exhaustion crying.

I don't know how long I lay there before I felt a _presence_ behind me. Dazed still from the pain in my heart, I didn't think to move or do anything about it, almost forgetting it was there, until a gust of wind swept through the small clearing I had collapsed in.

Then the presence spoke to me.

"Hello, _mon ange mortel, les soins au gout enternity?"_

What the…? Who ever it was talking sounded like they were speaking French. But the language the man spoke was not what caught my interest. No, there was something infinitely different about this man's voice; something that set it apart from Charlie's, and even _His_ voice. I just couldn't put my finger on it. Something…Eternal. Immortal.

I shuddered internally just thinking about it. Immortal was something _I _could no longer be. Then I registered that there was a stranger behind me, and that I was lying on the ground helpless. A small fear awoke inside me. Slowly I turned over onto my back to face him, the tears still sliding pathetically down my face.

When I saw him, I could only stare blankly, shocked to my core.

The first thing I registered was his long shaggy black hair, which ended just past his shoulders. His eyes too were black, but if I looked closely enough, I could see flecks of color in them, and the pupils were just a shade darker.

At long last I noticed his face, his skin as pale as paper, paler in fact, then any of _them_, which was impossible. Then I realized as I took in his old fashioned clothes, and his pale face and black eyes, that I was facing a thirsty vampire.

I was going to die.

Even in my present condition, still grieving over _him,_ I still wanted to live. _It can't end this way! I'm too young to die…_As I was thinking that old cliché; the Vampire spoke again in that eternal voice of his that was like no other I had heard.

"Quickly, _Mon chere,_ would you be immortal? Would you let me change you?"

He spoke in a rushed voice and I could only stare at him for a few seconds before the meaning of his words sunk in. My eyes widen in astonishment and I didn't even think about it for a second before I nodded my head quickly. This vampire meant to change me!

Not even half a second passed before the vampire's teeth were at my throat: two sharp points puncturing my skin easily. The blood flowed instantly and quickly, and I could actually _feel_ as my blood was sucked from my veins. Black spots erupted in front of my eyes as a wave of dizziness swept over me.

For an infinite time, all I could see was blackness. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart in my ears, as it gradually slowed. Then a burning liquid splashed into my mouth, and I swallowed reflexively. The liquid tasted like nothing I had ever had before, and instantly, I wanted more.

Snapping my eyes open, I saw that the source of the burning liquid was the vampire's wrist, which had a small torrent of blood pouring out of it. Even as I watched I could see the skin knitting itself together at the very edges of what looked like a bite mark.

But this I only noticed at the back of my mind. The forefront of attention was focused on the blood—that's right, _Blood—_that was dripping from the vampire's arm. I didn't even wonder for a second why he would be bleeding—The Cullen's had said they didn't have blood, hadn't they? —Before I instinctively reached out and grabbed his arm, bringing his wrist to my mouth.

My thirst was greater than anything I had ever felt. I vaguely wondered if this is what it would be like to be a newborn, as I'm surely going to be in three days. After only a couple of seconds I felt a sharp tingling spread from my fingers to my toes, and with a gasp I stumbled back from the vampire, —I wonder what his name is? I should really ask him—falling to the ground in the process.

I could feel it as a strange coldness swept over my skin, chilling it, and just as suddenly everything felt much warmer against my skin, even the ground under me, which merely seconds ago had been freezing cold.

Suddenly, and inching-burning feeling started in my eyes and I could barely stop myself from rubbing them. Everything blurred for an instant, and then my vision came back, but a thousand times clearer than anything I had ever felt before.

It felt like the time I had tried on my friend's glasses that had made everything blurry, and when I had finally taken them off I had seen everything with startling clarity. I had the odd urge to blink.

After just lying there for a few seconds, I sat up and slid into a crouched position—but I moved so quickly! It hadn't even taken me half-a-second to do that! Eyes wide in astonishment, I stared around me at the woods, and at the vampire who was watching me with equal fascination. In his eyes I could see me reflection.

Suddenly another gust of wind blew through our clearing, and I could smell some kind of animal approaching us quickly, even as I listened, enraptured, to the forest's night sounds. In the distance I could hear owls hooting and bats squeaked as they flew above us.

The Vampire—I _really_ need to learn his name! —Was staring to the east, and now I could hear the sound of footsteps pounding into the ground, coming toward us. The Vampire looked worried. After a second he cursed, looking angry and anxious at the same time. Hearing the sound of some bird behind me, I whipped my head around to watch as a small owl flew out of a bush behind me, a tiny mouse clutched in its talons.

"Quickly, think _wolf!"_ The vampire suddenly shouted to me, and I jumped in fright, whipping my head back around to stare at him, confused. "What?" I asked, trying to control the panic in my voice. I could sense something huge heading our way, and from the way he was acting, it was most likely dangerous.

"Think _WOLF!" _He shouted again, and an instant later, impossibly, he had blurred into a massive, grey wolf, that would rival the size of a small elephant, with small silver hairs that made it look like he was covered lightly in ashes.

Without really thinking about it, I concentrated on copying his move, imagining myself blurring into a wolf as he had. A second later, I felt myself dissolve and an instant later I was on all fours, my head about an inch under Ash's—I had just found out that was his name, because somehow I was reading his mind.

It took me a second to realize that his mind was not the only one I was connected to, and, before I could react three massive—well, compared to normal wolves that is—wolves thundered through the bushes and entered the clearing we were in.

From their minds, I knew that the large black one was Sam Uley, a member of the Quiluete tribe.

How the heck was that possible?

* * *

**AN: ok everybody1 Bella's PoV, just like i promised!**

**and yeah, i KNOW there are more of you then just the people who are reviewing, (thanks btw) so i propose a challange: let's get to 50 reviews (((TOTAL))) for this chap! as i'm writing this AN, we've got only 37. 50-37=13, so 13 more!**

**and make sure you vote for your favorite story on my poll!**


	7. Attacked

True Vamp chapter 7: Attacked

Previously: _From their minds, I knew that the large black one was Sam Uley, a member of the Quiluete tribe._

_How the heck was that possible?_

(Bella-PoV)

I could hear from Ash's thoughts that he was contemplating on using his mind to somehow control the other wolves. I also knew that the other wolves could not hear _our_ minds; it was like a one-way mirror or something, but Ash and I could hear each other's thoughts. It was like strings of consciousness were attached to our minds, connecting them in some intimate way…

And I too, could feel other minds, connected in the same way; but their thoughts were _just_ on the edge of awareness; everything but their presence concealed from my mind. Only a single few were just slightly louder than the rest, weaving a tapestry between one consciousness and the next, until the 'sound' dimmed and faded into oblivion.

Suddenly, I heard Sam order the two other wolves—Paul and Jared—to attack and the two wolves leaped around Ash right for me, seeing as I was the smaller of the two, while Sam, the largest of the pack leapt for Ash's throat.

The two wolves bounded past Ash, who had dodged Sam's attack by jumping over him. The two wolves charged toward me, teeth bared and shouting advice to each other in their minds as the grey one—Paul—jumped at me, snarling. Suddenly I lost my concentration as the other wolf, Jared, circled around my back, and abruptly I was in my human form again. Paul latched onto my arm with his teeth as I tried to back away from them, not wanting to fight, and with a sickening tearing sound; my arm was ripped from my shoulder.

My scream of agony seemed to last an eternity as the pain ripped through me. Blood poured from the wound and splashed across my face as Paul dropped it in disgust, his fur matted with my blood. _Strange,_ I thought through the pain, _I can still feel my arm; I can still move my arm…_but those thoughts were at the back of my mind, because as I tried to retreat, clutching my bloodied shoulder, beside me Jared was, almost in slow motion, leaping forward, his teeth aimed for my throat.

**"**_**NO!"**_ Ash's voice rang out from somewhere above me and I looked up and saw him _flying_ through the air toward me, with absolutely _huge_ leathery bat-like wings sprouting from his back as he raced towards me. Reaching out, he grabbed both Jared and Paul by their necks and threw them at Sam, and all of them collapsed under each other's weight.

Wings outstretched, Ash landed next to me, where I had fallen to my knees, trying to staunch the flow of blood from my shoulder with my hand. I looked at him pleadingly, hoping he would be able to stop the pain. I could feel myself getting weak as all of my blood drained out of me.

_Am I going to die now?_ I thought as I watched Ash look at the wolves quickly before retrieving my arm from the ground, where it lay twitching grotesquely. I watched in fatigued curiosity as Ash again bit his own wrist, drawing the blood, where it quickly ran over the edge and onto my shoulder, which he held his hand over, while pressing the end of my arm against the torn flesh, so that it resembled a whole arm.

Every drop of blood that fell onto my shoulder stung, but it was a good pain, like the pain you feel when you scraped your knee as a kid and your parents put the cream on it that would make it heel faster. And I could feel it healing; torn nerves re-connected, and the bones seemed to grow a cushion between the two where it had been broken away, before hardening into new bone. I flexed my hand: it was perfect; it still hurt, but only mildly.

Suddenly Ash hissed menacingly, and I jumped as his wing moved to cover me, hiding me from sight. I could still see them though, through Ash's semi-transparent wing, that was covered in a spider web of pulsing blue and red veins, circulating his blood.

It was then that I actually began to think about what had happened this night.

What was I? It seemed as if I were a Vampire, but one of the ones from the old myths and legends; not at all like _them._ But if I were a Vampire, then what were _they?_ Another species perhaps? But then again, what did it matter now? I was safe, at least at the moment I was, _and_ if I don't get killed in the next few hours, I'll be immortal!

A sudden sharp bark interrupted my thoughts, and I leaned to the side to get a better view of what was happening. I watched as Sam backed into the forest with confusion. _What was he going to do? Run away?_ I could feel suspicion radiating off of Ash as he watched. Suddenly the doubt faded away to be replaced with…embarrassment? Wait, not for himself, he's embarrassed _for_ Sam, or because of Sam.

I was confused again. Why was it that I could feel all these emotions from Ash? Was I some sort of empath, like Jasper? But these feelings were dull, muted, as if heard through a thick wall. But Edward had once said that Jasper lived in an "emotional climate" and that he was often overwhelmed by the emotions he was feeling they were so strong.

Suddenly Ash made a small movement with his shoulders, and I saw him start to take off his long over coat. Was he hot or what? _Oh wow, that thought didn't come out right_…I blushed silently at my chaotic train of thought, again getting distracted by the movement of some small animal—a mouse—in the forest behind me.

A few seconds later Sam walked out of the bushes, as a human and thankfully, wearing shorts. He was tall, abnormally so, and he was muscled like a bodybuilder. His black hair was cropped short, almost a military cut. His face was tense but calm.

Jared and Paul looked nervous with Sam being so exposed and they both moved to stand by his sides; Sam's eyes flickering from Ash's wings, to his face, to mine, and to my blood that covered the ground around us. Slowly, he took a deep breath and in a voice that was more order then question, he spoke:

"What the hell are _you?"_

* * *

**AN: Ok guys, if you have ANY questions about True Vamp, anything at all, that you would like answered, please put it in a review! nxt one's an Info Chap, where Ash'll start educating Bella in the ways of the Supernatural world! so, if you've got any questions, even if it's if Jackalope's exist, (lol inside joke) it'll be answered. C'mon ppl, review! let's try and get to 60 this time!**

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	8. Thirst

True Vamp chapter 8: Burning, white, thirst.

Previously: _Jared and Paul looked nervous with Sam being so exposed and they both moved to stand by his sides; Sam's eyes flickering from Ash's wings, to his face, to mine, and to my blood that covered the ground around us. Slowly, he took a deep breath and in a voice that was more order then question, he spoke:_

_ "What the hell _are_ you?"_

**(Bella-PoV)**

Ash hesitated for a second, and from his mind I could vaguely hear him wondering if he should tell the truth. I heard him think the word _Hybrid_, but seeing as I could only hear some of what he was thinking, I didn't know what he was talking about. What kind of hybrid? And why couldn't I hear his thoughts clearly, when before when I was a wolf they had been crystal clear?

Suddenly Ash interrupted my thoughts by shuddering, and I looked at him with concern. Just as I was about to ask him if he was ok, he spoke to the wolves: "There are many things that I am; I have been called many names: demon; angel; devil; god, I have been both worshiped, and hated." Wow, how long has he been alive? Well, dead actually, but who cares about terminology? Once we were alone I'd have to ask him to tell me his story, that is, if he was willing to tell it.

"I have lived for five hundred years, and I am young for my kind, though many fledglings of our species consider me an Elder, as none older than I have been seen for centuries." Whoa! He's even older than Carlisle! And what did he just say? Fledgling? Was that their word for a new vampire, like Newborn was to the Cullen's?

Suddenly a burning thirst erupted in my throat, making me gasp and clutch it instinctively. _AH! This is worse than when I had to run the mile in gym!_ I thought erratically as what felt like stomach cramps made my stomach hurt, as if I hadn't eaten in days. Ash sent me an apologetic glance at same time that Sam's eyes flickered over to me, as I shivered uncontrollably, trying to focus around my burning thirst.

My eyes unconsciously flickered up to meet his for a second, before I looked away again, uneasy. In his eyes I could see my reflection perfectly, even in the darkness of the night. I could see the reflection of my own eyes in his; mine were now black, like Ash's; the deepest shade imaginable, with flecks of every color in the rainbow surrounding the pupil, which was just a shade darker than the rest. The whites of my eyes stood out freakily, looking almost as if they were glowing.

I could feel Sam's hard stare as he watched me intently. "You, you're a vampire, aren't you? One of the Old Ones! And you've turned her into one too!" he growled, and I looked up to see him glaring at Ash, his body shaking, almost blurring. _He was going to attack again!_

Suddenly beside me Ash sighed, and before I knew what was happening, he had grabbed me tightly but gently around the waist, and not even a second later we were flying in the air, hundreds of feet above the treetops. I gasped in fright at the speed at which we had risen, and Ash chuckled as he flew us to the west.

Far below us, Sam exploded into his black wolf form again with a howl of rage. It was only now that I heard the voices of a search party in the distance, calling out my name. I recognized the one as my father's. _What would I tell him? Can I even see him again?_ I thought, but then the beauty of the world under us distracted me, and I stared down at the trees racing past, and the lights of the towns we passes as Ash shifted his course so that we were flying a more southerly course.

I could feel a slight burning on the left side of my body and I turned my head to see a light filling the eastern the horizon. Instinctively, I knew it was the sun and I cringed back into Ash's arms in fright.

Suddenly, in my mind I saw again the webs of consciousness, all of them blazing brightly, and while I stared at them I realized that I couldn't see anything else. I could feel this tugging pull on my mind, pulling my mind to the east, where the sun was rising.

Suddenly one of the consciousness's lights began to fade and dim, while pulsing rapidly, almost frantically. At the exact same moment I saw this happen, all the other light's blazed hotter, more concentrated, all of them seeming to turn their attention to the blinking light and I felt a flash of burning agony fill me body as a white hot flame coursed through my veins. The screams of hundreds of other vampire's echoed in my head as I screamed out in utter despair and agony as the stuttering white light winked out of existence.

Suddenly the image was gone and I found myself falling, looking through my darkening vision at the world as it rushed up to meet me. Just as I lost consciousness, I was able to turn my head and see Ash falling beside me, wing's limp and eyes closed as we plummeted to the earth, right above an old graveyard.

**AN: SOO! Anyone figure out what the white lights are? And people, if you want me to update, I will need 5 more people to vote on my poll, (for a total of 20 votes) and a total of 70 reviews for this story (which means about 7 of you need to review, although feel free to go over 70 =D)**

**And please people; I really need more ideas for technological advances that **_**you**_** think would be possible in the year 2060. It is imperative that I have that information as soon as possible. I already have a couple ideas that my friends and I have come up with at lunch during school (thanks guys!)**

** Oh yeah, update's may not be as quick as they were during the summer; we've got school now! Make sure you people vote and review!**

** ~Make sure you vote and review!**

** ~Or a shoe I'll throw at you!**

** ~If I don't update soon,**

** ~I'll probably get stabbed with a spoon**

** ~So review,**

** ~Or I cant update**

** ~And If I can't update**

** ~Someone will kill me with a spoon,**

** ~Or a rabid raccoon,**

** ~So review,**

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** And you can read more about my favorite vampire guy.**


	9. Heartbeats

True Vamp Chapter 9: Heartbeats

_**Disclaimer: **_**I do not own Twilight, nor "The Witches". I do not own Bella, but I **_**DO**_** own the following:**

_**Claimer:**_** I DO own: Ash, Alexander Cendres, Sarajane Cendres, MY species of Vampire, AND Werewolf, I DO own the Seraphs (you'll find out about them later) and I do own all original characters in this story. And finally: I lay claim to any inventions that are (possibly) to be used in 50 years, which are mentioned in this story. All of them are original ideas, and I will NOT be copied nor will I copy.**

Chapter Quote #1: "It was if a thousand people cried out…and then were silenced"—Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars

Chapter Quote #2: "We're all connected, all humankind. We must care for each other, mustn't we?"—Lestat, "Tale of the Body Thief" by Anne Rice

(Just replace 'humankind' with 'Vampirekind')

Chapter song: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2. (Bella PoV)

When I next awoke, I was very confused and sad. Sluggishly, I opened my eyes and looked around cautiously. We were in a medium sized stone room. Everything was covered in dust. Grey on grey. Slowly I rose on my elbows, conscious of a slight pain in the center of my back. For a second, I forgot where I was, who I was, and what I was.

"Are you alright?" A voice whispered behind me, filled with concern, and I whipped my head around to see Ash, on his knees leaning towards me, one pale arm out stretched as if to comfort me or help me up. Everything came rushing back. I reached out and slowly grasped his hand, marveling at the smoothness of it.

"I-I think so…" I answered, "What _was_ that?" I asked with a shudder as he gently pulled me to my feet. His face was somber when he answered: " One of our kind has died. Killed by the rising sun."

My eyes widened in shock. "The sun?" I asked, and he nodded. "The sun is one of the most painful things our kind can be killed by. That feeling of being burned, you felt it? That was what he felt when the sun burnt him."

I nodded slowly, remembering the feeling of the fire, of being burned; pain beyond endurance. "But wait, what were those lights? And that feeling, like I was being pulled towards the vampire who died?" I asked, seeing them in my mind again, in my memory:

_Suddenly one of the consciousness's lights began to fade and dim, while pulsing rapidly, almost frantically. At the exact same moment I saw this happen, all the other light's blazed hotter, more concentrated, all of them seeming to turn their attention to the blinking light and I felt a flash of burning agony fill me body as a white hot flame coursed through my veins. The screams of hundreds of other vampire's echoed in my head as I screamed out in utter despair and agony as the stuttering white light winked out of existence._

"Those lights you see, they're all the vampires of the world. All of our kind are telepathically linked by blood, so that we always know where the rest are. Since we have no scent, it's the only way to track the others, seeing as most of us shun technology; if one of us were to use a cell phone, for instance, humans could track us around the world. They could kill us, or capture us for experimentation."

I was just about to ask how _exactly_ could a human kill us? When he spoke again.

"But come, I will explain all of this later. You need to hunt. It's important that you feed as soon as possible, seeing as you unfortunately didn't get a chance to last night."

It was only then that I registered the fact that my throat was still burning, my stomach still cramping. But then a horrible thought came over me. "Wait! You don't hunt humans, do you?" I asked, staring into his eyes intently, looking for some kind of sign.

"Of course I do, what else? And anyways, since you're still a fledgling, you'll have to drink from animals until you're in control of your thirst more." He said patiently. He held out his arm again, and I hesitantly took it. He jumped upwards, and I ducked my head reflexively as we smashed through the ceiling rotted wood, before landing smoothly on some grass.

I looked around, curious. Gravestones surrounded us, some with withered flowers resting on the ground before them, some recent, and some soo old, that I could just barely pick out the worn-away names on the marble, or whatever it is that graves are made of. Turning around, I looked down to see where it was we had slept, while Ash watched me, smiling slightly at my wide eyes.

We had slept in an ancient shed that, somehow, had sunken into the ground, covered only in a light dusting of dirt and grass cuttings. I could clearly see the hole in the far corner where we had fallen in, and closer by, where Ash had just jumped out of it.

The sudden scurrying of little feet nearby made me jump with fright. I whirled around to see…a mouse. Ash laughed as I felt the heat rise to my face. But then an even stronger emotion than embarrassment took over. _Thirst._

I could hear every pump of that little mouse's heart, beating as a furious pace, even though I could somehow tell it was quite calm. At the back of my mind, I vaguely remembered someone in a book called "_The Witches"_ mentioning that a mouse's heart beats two hundred times a minute, though I wasn't sure it was true.

I reached out and snatched up the mouse from its hiding place, and held it still, staring into its eyes in fascination. I could see its little heart thumping wildly against its chest as it quivered in fright in my hand. I could see intelligence in its eyes, an intelligence that far surpassed what scientists speculated about in their labs with their cages and needles and mazes. This creature, this small, seemingly insignificant mammal, could think. It could feel. It could love. And because of that, I couldn't bear to kill it.

Slowly, quietly as to not scare it even more, I gently rested the back of my hand on the ground and uncovered it from my other hand. It stood there, for a second, just staring at me, before racing off into the tall grass, towards its burrow, where I could hear the small squeaks of his family. I could've sworn I heard it say _thank you_.

Ash had watched this entire episode in silence, and now he smiled wider, before speaking. "Good, good. You've got compassion in you. You'll make a splendid Immortal." He smiled again, and offered me his hand again. This time I didn't hesitate. I grabbed it and held on tight as he drew me towards him, watching over my shoulder in awe as he unfolded his huge, black wings. With a single flap, we were launched hundreds of feet into the air.

"What happened that you have those wings?" I asked, feeling jealous as we soared effortlessly under the twinkling stars and silver moon. _Will I ever be able to fly? Or is that just something special about you?_ The last part was a thought, and from what he said earlier, I shouldn't have been surprised when he answered. "Yes, you'll be able to fly, and no, it's not just something I can do. Once you've drunken from your first human, they'll grow out of your back. Quite painful actually, but it's worth it.

I nodded, understanding completely. What was a little pain compared to flying above the earth, with just you and the stars and the clouds and the moon for company? That is, of course, if you could avoid planes, I thought as I watched one flying in the distance; it's red and blue lights blinking slowly.

After about five minutes, my thirst was quickly becoming unbearable. But how could I feed, if every time was like with the mouse? If I saw that it was aware, that it was intelligent, emotional, that it had a family, how could I kill it? It would be like murder. No, it _would_ be murder. After all, what really _is_ the difference between a man and a mouse? Or a dog? Or even the smallest of ants?

Finally, after another minute, we were flying over the forest of Forks again. I felt a small fear awaken in me. What if Sam and Paul and Jared were still here? Would they attack us again? And what about Charlie? What would he think? Could I see him ever again? What did he think had happened? Suddenly I looked down and saw below us my house. I knew I had to see my father. Had to make sure he's all right.

"Stop!" I shouted desperately, "Go down! I have to see him!" I cried out as my eyes honed in on the police cruiser in the driveway. I could hear Charlie in the kitchen, speaking to someone on the phone, the sound of his voice sounding devastated and full of rage. I tried to hear what it was he was saying, but the wind was roaring in my ears so loudly I couldn't hear the exact words he spoke.

Ash slowly nodded, and I could hear his sympathy from his thoughts. As we gradually circled lower and lower, he warned me not to let Charlie see me. I nodded as we descended to the roof. Another wave of thirst washed over me as we landed.

I could smell Charlie's blood; hear his heart beating.

Hopefully, I wouldn't try to kill my father.

AN: and so another chapter is up! How do you guys like it? Anyone still confused? Who loved it? Who hated it?

On the subject of the slow update: I've had this chap done for about a week now, but a few days ago our electricity went out and our computer's internet isn't working (Stupid Dial-Up!) so I've only just now got it back up.

Whatever you have to say put it in a review! Even if it's just to rant about something that happened to you today, or a good book you've read, even flames are appreciated!

**Oh yeah, if you haven't noticed yet, check out my profile for a picture of one of my Original Character's from my Original (and I hope it'll be published) Book: "Tale of a Vampire"! The picture is hand drawn; and is freehanded. (With no rulers or guides or stuff like that)**

**When I was reading the Maximum Ride graphic Novel #1, I just saw a picture of Max, kinda looking like a zombie after Mrs Martinez (I think that's her name) asked Max when it all started (with the wings and stuff)**

**How about 15 reviews for this chapter? You know, I think from now on, it'll be 15 reviews per chapter before I update. ****(Just don't yell at me if I takes awhile, what with school, crappy internet connection, sharing a computer, homework, stepsisters…the list goes on and on people!)**

Anyways, review or I'll stalk you while singing my review song VERY loudly, right next to your ear!

**~Make sure you vote and review! ~**

**~Or a shoe I'll throw at you! ~**

**~If I don't update soon,~**

**~I'll probably get stabbed with a spoon~**

**~So review, ~**

**~Or I cant update~**

**~And If I can't update~**

**~Someone will kill me with a spoon, ~**

**~Or a rabid raccoon,~**

**~So review, ~**

**~And I wont die, ~**

**~And you can read more about my favorite Vampire guy! ~**

Re: And by the way, chapter 10's already done! Finished it right after I did this. So the second I get 15 reviews for this, I'll put it up! **(Re: i'm using my mom's laptop to update this, so im ight not have chapter 10 up for a while, even if it DOES get 15 reviews right away. i've only goten to use it today and our internets been out for a while. i dont know when the next time i can get on is, but if possible, i'll try tomarrow.**

**oh yeah, feel free to go over 15 reviews. it makes my day to see i've got a bunch! =D**


	10. Parents

**True Vamp Chapter 10: Parents.**

**AN:** **for anyonewho's wondering where i get the ideas for this story from, this is actualy a crossover between Twilight and my original-book-in-progress, "Tale of a Vampire", which i hopoe to get published. (lol, i've got more chaps in true vamp than i do in Toav,(abbreiveiated form) but who cares as long as i keep writing?) anytways, ALL characters not from the twilight universe or any other book character are my original creations (for those of you who don't know who they are, Lestat, Marius, and Armand are not mine, they're belong to the awersome Anne Rice, and NO they are not characters in this story, they're just mentioned by a mob of screaming fans in New Orleans in the next chap...lol i think i've said too much but...hahahah you'll see as sono as i get 15 reviews!**

**For those of you who are wondering, this is a sorta behind-the-scenes chapter. Hehe, I hope you guys laugh as much reading it as I did while writing it! Lol. You'll see what I mean soon! **

**Re:9/18/10, 1:35PM : ok people, i'm once again on my mom's laptop and currently i'm at a soft-ball tornament with her helping at her airbrushing job. i know i've only gotten 7 reviews(as of the ten seconds ago that i checked) but i'm going to update anyways! hooe you guys like this, the next chapter's lol pretty funny when it gets to Edward's pov...hahahaahaha! i'd tell you what happens but it'd be funnier if you didnt know what was going to happen lol.**

**And **_**please, **_**pardon the two instances ( ithink it's only two, might be more..) of minor language in this chapter.**

**Oh yeah, I'm about to dive into the mind of one of the more ignored twilight characters: Charlie Swan! So make sure you tell me if I do a good job or not!**

**Chapter Quote: I was mortal…till you gave me your Immortal Kiss. You become my mother, and my father. And so I am yours forever."—Claudia, from **_**Interview With The Vampire**_**, by Anne Rice, (the movie version…I forget if she says that in the book)**

**Previously: **

"_Stop!" I shouted desperately, "Go down! I have to see him!" I cried out as my eyes honed in on the police cruiser in the driveway. I could hear Charlie in the kitchen, speaking to someone on the phone, the sound of his voice sounding devastated and full of rage. I tried to hear what it was he was saying, but the wind was roaring in my ears so loudly I couldn't hear the exact words he spoke_

_Ash slowly nodded, and I could hear his sympathy from his thoughts. As we gradually circled lower and lower, he warned me not to let Charlie see me. I nodded as we descended to the roof. Another wave of thirst washed over me as we landed._

_I could smell Charlie's blood; hear his heart beating._

_Hopefully, I wouldn't try to kill my father._

**(Charlie PoV)**

It's been a day. A day since she disappeared without a trace. A day, since the Cullen's, including her pompous, know-it-all, arrogant little boyfriend, Edward Cullen, who for some reason I couldn't fathom, she had fallen in love with, had left.

It seemed it was not just some teenage crush, but actual love; love strong enough to make her leave when he left with only a note about her taking a walk. But then again, there had been something I had noticed about her note. It was…different…from her usual writing. Her handwriting was usually an untidy scrawl, if it wasn't for school, and that included any notes she left me. The writing on the note… it just wasn't hers.

I had realized this last night, and told Billy what I suspected. After Sam, one of the kids from the reservation examined it, (and was it just me or did he sniff it?) and said that it was forged, all of the worry that I had been trying to hide instantly turned into a burning rage.

This note was not from Bella! Someone had forged it! And I knew, _oh I knew!_ It was Edward! I always knew he was no good! That little bastard…he'd taken my one and only daughter! But how could Carlisle not have stopped him? Unless he didn't know…or he was in on it! I always knew that there was something odd about him! But I'd never have expected Carlisle…and Esme, she'd always been so caring on those few occasions I had seen her…

Immediately after he'd examined the note, Sam had exchanged a quick look with Billy before he went into the woods, followed by his two friends, Paul and Jared. Just before he left, he looked straight into my eyes and said he was going to find my daughter. And then he was gone: melting into the trees.

I didn't see them after that, and when I went out searching in vain for Bella with the other men and women of the town, I had heard what sounded like a bunch of large animals fighting in the distance.

After a night of fruitless searching in the darkness, we had all headed to the house, where some of the men set up camp so that they could help search again in the morning. Tip-toeing to the kitchen, I quietly dialed Renée's number. Though she had left me, I still loved her. She needed to know what had happened to Bella. After all, Bella was her daughter too.

When I told her that Bella was missing, she went, understandably, into hysterics. After that, Phil, her new husband got on the phone. He asked me what had happened, seeing as he could get nothing more than sobs from Renée. I told him more than I told her. I told I thought that the Cullen's had taken her with them, that she'd been dating Edward, one of their adoptive children.

When he heard, he was immediately enraged and worried as I had been. He didn't even hesitate before saying that he would book a flight for him and Renée to get here as fast as possible so that they could help in the search, before hanging up quickly.

To say I was surprised would have been an understatement. I had never thought much of Phil in regards to Bella, other then in jealousy. I had never realized that he loved her as a daughter. Loved her as I did. As Renée did.

As any parent would.

It was only when I had hung up the phone and trudged wearily up the stairs to my room and into bed, fully clothed, that the full impact of what had transpired today hit me.

Bella was gone.

There was a chance that I would never see her again. Nor would Renée, her mother and the only woman I had ever loved, or Phil, who I realized now, had probably been a better father to Bella than I had ever been. He, at least, had been there for her, where I had not.

That night, I had a horrible dream that I knew stemmed from the anxiety, fear and rage that I had felt all day.

_Bella stood in the middle of a fog-enshrouded forest, surrounded by pale figures, which resembled demons, with their black eyes, webbed wings and slightly pointed ears. Only it wasn't Bella; her skin was paler than I had ever seen it; her hair was long and black, like her eyes; like the eyes of the demons. _

_Her face resembled almost a skull: the cheeks hollow, her eyes sunken a bit back into her face, giving her an almost haunted look. When she smiled, four sharp fangs were revealed, two on the top, two on the bottom, where the canines would usually be._

_She wore nothing but a ragged black dress that looked as if she had been wearing it for weeks or more. The dress was tight, and I could see by the way that it clung to her that she was skinny, painfully so, like a corpse. It was almost of if her stomach had caved in or something. All the others were like this too; as if they had been starved._

_Suddenly out of the surrounding crowd a man stepped forward, his hair was long; shoulder length, and black and curly. His face was pale, more so then the rest, and his ears too were pointed more prominently. His visage was fearsome, almost animalistic, when he smiled widely, revealing fangs identical to Bella's. He looked to be about 20, 30 years old._

_He reached out and took Bella's hand, and when she looked up at him I could see nothing but love in her eyes and his. He slowly leaned down and placed his lips on her throat._

_She gasped, and blood trickled down from where his teeth had pierced her skin, the small droplets quickly becoming a torrent._

I woke with a start.

Just a dream! Not real…just a nightmare… I thought, trying to shake off the images, while plopping my head back down onto my pillow, unwilling to get up and face the fact that Bella was gone. My only daughter… Suddenly beside me my alarm clock went off, blaring its loud beeping right into my ear. I jumped in fright before smashing my fist onto the off button; some of the pent up rage at the Cullens I had been holding in escaping unintentionally.

"Damn it!" I shouted, as my fist smashed into the alarm clock, cracking the plastic covering and exposing some wires. The clock, broken now, turned itself off and my rage grew even more. Not knowing what else to do, about _anything_ that was going on, I snatched up the stupid alarm and hurled it across the room, watching its flight with a small amount of satisfaction as it tore the electric cord out of the wall with it's speed, before crashing to the floor in the hallway.

It was then that Harry Clearwater poked his head around the corner cautiously, before stepping into the doorway. His face was somber, and his eyes held the look of someone who was about to deliver terrible news.

"Charlie, It's Bella. Sam and the others…they found blood, in the forest, with some scraps of the coat she was wearing. I'm afraid…she's gone." He whispered, staring at my face intently, waiting for some kind of emotion.

All I felt was disbelief. No, this can't be happening…No! It's not true! I know it's not! It couldn't have…it's just like those movies, where someone goes missing, and all people find is some blood and a piece of their clothing, and everyone assumes they're dead but their really not! That's what was happening here! I had to believe that, because if I couldn't believe she was alive…well, I don't know what I'd do. And I hope I don't have to find out.

"No…" I whispered, "No, you're lying. She's still alive! I can feel it!" I shouted the last part, fists clenched, I walked forward quickly before grabbing Harry's shirt collar in my fists. "Don't. You. Ever. Say that my daughter is gone! And where's Sam? Tell him I want to see the place he found the blood. I'll be the judge of whether or not she's gone!" I snarled, before pushing him aside and storming down the stairs.

All around the room, the men that had stayed to help in the search were on their feet with sympathetic expressions. "Charlie…we're sorry. We know what you must be going thro—" One of them started to say, but I cut him off. "Get ready. We're going out to look again." I ground out, my frustration and anger evident in my voice.

"But Charlie, they said that a kid from the reservation found blood and some of her clothes—"

"Yes! But _only_ blood and a scrap of her clothes! Has it ever occurred to any of you that maybe she dropped whatever it was and then some animal came along to find it? She's alive still and I'm the only one who cares!" I bellowed, and from the window I could see a group of a bunch of kids from Bella's school turn around and stare, wide eyed with fear.

"Charlie, you have to calm down!" Another man said, and I recognized him as George, the owner of the supermarket. "Don't tell me to calm down!" I said in a dangerously low, seething. _Why does no one else get it! _"I'm going to find my daughter, whether you help or not!" I said, before striding out the door, in the direction of the woods.

Suddenly I heard a bunch of footsteps behind me and I turned, thinking it was the men come to restrain me or something—only to see all of the kids who had been out front, I recognized them as Bella's friends.

"Sir, she's not really gone, is she?" one of the boys, Tyler Crowly—I thought, the one who'd almost hit her with his van—asked tentatively, quietly, his face full of fear. "No, but everyone else seems to think so." I said, trying to calm down so I wouldn't scare them or something. "Where are you going? To look for her?" The girl who spoke I recognized as Angela Webber, who from Bella's descriptions was her best friend, besides that backstabbing _Alice Cullen_ of course.

"Yes," I said as calmly as possible. "Good, because I'm coming with you." she said fiercely, and the other kids shouted out their agreements. I felt tears start to come to my eyes, but I struggled to not show them, not wanting to seem weak in front of all these kids.

"Thank you," I said to them all.

I split up the group into teams, before retrieving the walkie-talkies we'd been using the night before from the house; giving each team one and instruction them to report if they found anything, or if there was an emergency. After everyone was ready, including the men and women (most of them parents themselves) who had volunteered to help, we set out into the woods.

After about twenty minutes of hiking, Gold Team (consisting of Mike Newton, Jessica Stanley, Eric Yorkie and two seniors from the school) reported that they had found Bella's footprints leading into the woods. I quickly told them that I would meet them there and that they were to put the alarm on so that we could find them.

Instantly I heard a ringing/beeping noise to the right, and Alpha Team and I (Angela Webber, deputy Matt, and Tyler Crowly) quickly found the others, who were standing not far from where we had left them. When we were close enough, Mike pointed to the ground in front of which he was kneeling and I looked closer.

Yes, defiantly hers, I thought, I recognize the pattern. "Good work, guys. Now we just have to follow them." I said, and calling in the rest of the teams, we set out, following the trail. I started to get worried; it looked as if she had been staggering as she walked; the footprints weren't going straight, and they were deeply imbedded in the dirt, as if she had been running, but to or from what?

After about half an hour, we reached the place where the footprints ended. Luckily, I was walked ahead of the others, and was able to stop the kids from coming close enough to see. I quickly called Matt forward, and he looked shocked at the carnage.

Blood covered the ground, turning the dirt a dark burgundy; trees were splashed with scarlet, some of them had even been knocked over, some of the smaller ones actually split right in half. But that wasn't what held my attention. What held it were the footprints of someone other than Bella. And there! The imprint of a hand; too big to be my daughter's. My eyes widened at the possibility. There was just the slightest chance…

I quickly moved to there the handprint was, careful not to disturb and of the evidence. Once I was beside it, I leaned down, staring at the place where the fingers had pressed down. Yes! I quickly pulled out my camera and snapped a shot of it.

A fingerprint!

AN: holy crap! Lol I wrote this right after finishing chapter 9! I think I'm going to start chapter 11 now…lol I'll be 3 chapters ahead!

**Anyways, 15 reviews for this chap! OR i WON'T put up trhe Partly-hilarius-partly dramatic next chap!**

**oh yeah, put "Memnoch" in a review (i'm like halfway through "Memnoch The Devil" by Anne Rice(the fifth book in the Vampire Chronicles and the last of her books that we own that i havent read yet. if we dont buy the rest of her books soon, i think i'm going to re-read the Witching Hour...anyways, hope you liked this chap!**


	11. Phonecalls

**True Vamp Chapter 11:Phonecalls.**

**Chapter songs: "Here without you" by 3 doors down, and "In pieces" by Linkin Park**

**AN:I started writing this right after I completed chapter 10. Lets see if I can write 3 chaps in two days! ****(Re: dang it! I didn't get this done until a couple days later…)**

**Disclaimer: this is NOT a Twilight/Vampire Chronicles/Mayfair Witches crossover! This is NOT a crossover between twilight and any thing to do with Anne Rice. **

**Actually, this is a crossover between Twilight and my Original Story (book-in-progress, whenever it's finished I hope to get it published) "Tale of a Vampire". True Vamp will contain certain elements of ToaV (my nickname for it) without spoilers for the book.**

**I do not own "Lives of the Mayfair Witches", which belongs to the AWESOMEST author: **_**Anne Rice!**_** Nor do I own any of the Vampire Chronicles books mention in this chapter.**

**Neither am I implying that I own the Mayfair mansion, (the place with all the people around it in Ed's PoV) or anything like that. **

**I just love the idea of the Cullen's in New Orleans, where there's all those vampire fans…lol, I REALLY want to go there!**

**If you've read this AN, put "The Vampire Lestat" in a review!**

Previously:

_I quickly moved to there the handprint was, careful not to disturb and of the evidence. Once I was beside it, I leaned down, staring at the place where the fingers had pressed down. Yes! I quickly pulled out my camera and snapped a shot of it._

_A fingerprint!_

**(Bella PoV)**

_Hopefully I'm not going to try and kill Charlie_… I thought as I crept to the edge of the roof, the better to hear him over the wind. Beside me, Ash was watching me intently, the moonlight making his skin glow. I glanced down at my arm as I listened, and saw that my skin was shimmering just the same. Much less…violent…looking than when Edward was out in the sun. This was a much more subtle beauty.

_"I heard what you said! But that's impossible, how could it not have a match? Maybe it was damaged somehow!"_

_"Charlie, I'm telling you this print does not have a match! It's probably a fake…or something I don't know! I've never had to deal with a case like this…"_

_"So figure it out! Who ever has this fingerprint took my daughter! And you're telling me that this person doesn't exist!"_

_"No, that's not what I said, I _said_ that it doesn't have a match. Maybe one of the others can check it out…someone with more experience…after all, I'm still new here…"_

_"Yeah, you do that. I don't care what it takes; we _need_ to find my daughter! And I need you to look up a family for me."_

_"Sure, who is it?"_

_"The Cullen's, she was dating one of Carlisle and Esme Cullen's adoptive kids, named Edward. They moved away the same night she disappeared. I think they're involved in this. I think they helped take her._

"Hey, you ok?" Ash asked suddenly, noticing my pained expression when Charlie said Edward's name. "Yeah, fine." I said hastily, not wanting to talk about it. I could feel a pain starting in my chest; a pain that had disappeared after Ash had turned me, until now.

_"Sure, give me a minute. Any idea where they moved to?"_

_"Yeah, Carlisle told the hospital they were moving to L.A."_

_"K, give me a few seconds."_

There was a minute of vocal silence, in which I could hear the faint tapping-clicking sound of someone typing into a computer on the other line. I could also hear Charlie's heartbeat; hear the quiet _swoosh_ of air as it was pulled in and out of his lungs; feel Ash's warm breath on the back of my neck; smell the tantalizing scent of Charlie's blood, and the lingering scent of other humans. Lots of them had been here recently; a search party maybe?

The thirst was much easier to control than I thought; it hurt yes, but it wasn't very definitive in what I was thirsting for; it was only because I knew that I was thirsty for blood that I found the scent hard to resist. As the conversation had yet to resume, I turned my attention to the stars above us. The stars were shining brightly, much more brightly than they ever had in my mortal life—my mortal life! When was it that I started thinking of it like that? —And unlike the electric lights around us, these did not make my eyes burn.

It was odd, though. If you think about it, why wouldn't the stars or the moon burn us? After all, moonlight is just the light from the sun reflecting off the moon, and stars are suns too, they're just far away, far, far, far away.

"I've thought of that too," Ash told me quietly, and I turned to look at him. "I think the reason it doesn't hurt us, is because, with the stars, they're too far away to actually hurt us. Most of them are hundreds or thousands of light-years away from earth. And the Moon? Well, I think the light is too weak to do us any damage. Who knows? I'm not exactly what you'd call a genius when it comes astrology or whatever you call it now." He said with a small smile.

I laughed quietly. I was about to ask him how long I could go without feeding, seeing as my throat was getting more painful by he minute, when below the man Charlie was talking to finally spoke:

_"Charlie…Are you sure Dr. Cullen said they were moving to L.A?"_

_"Yeah, the hospital has it on record. Why?"_

_"Because according to this, the Cullen's own and are currently living in New Orleans, Louisiana. They bought the old mansion they're living in only a couple of days ago."_

_"WHAT?"_ Charlie shouted, and both Ash and I jumped in surprise, and from the low _thud_ I heard on the other line, whoever he was talking to had also. _"What do you _mean_ they're in New Orleans? They're supposed to be in L.A! Carlisle told the hospital here that he was going there immediately for a job! And they only bought the property only 'a few days ago'!"_

_"Y-yes! But by god Charlie, you've got to calm down! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" _the man on the other line shouted. I could feel my concern for Charlie growing. His heart was racing dangerously fast in his rage, and his breathing was heavy. Anxiously, I leaned forward even more over the edge.

Suddenly I found myself losing my balance, and I was falling. Before I knew what was happening, I was crouched down on the ground, two stories below where I had been sitting. Somehow, I had flipping in mid-air, so instead of landing head first, I had landed on all fours with hardly a sound.

A second later, Ash was crouched beside me, pulling me into the shadows. I could see Charlie now, and it was a fearful sight. His face was bright red and his fists were clenched, as if he were about to punch something. His heart was thundering and I found myself thinking desperately _please don't let him have a heart attack; please don't let him have a heart attack._

_"I got to go." _He growled out, before hanging up the phone, slamming it into the hook. He stood there for a minute, just seething quietly. After a while though, his anger seemed to fade. His shoulders sagged, and his face seemed to pale. And instant before it happened, I could smell what seemed like saltwater.

And then my father began to cry.

**(Edward PoV) ****(I decided to put some humor in this chapter…hahahah you'll see what I mean soon. if you get it PLEASE review! ((and no, I don't own Lestat, Marius, Armand, or the Mayfair mansion, they belong to Anne Rice)**

"Amazing, absolutely amazing!" Carlisle exclaimed, staring at the crowd of humans gathered around the mansion we were standing across from. Even on a cold, dreary night like this, dozens of humans were out and about, staring in awe and excitement at one of the older houses on St. Charles Avenue.

I just stood there, staring dully, wondering with a stab of dulled pain (thanks to Jasper's power) if Bella would have wanted to come here, if she had read the books this house was in. Having read from Carlisle's mind as he read the trilogy in one night, I knew that this house was one of the main settings in the "Lives Of The Mayfair Witches" trilogy, by **Anne Rice**, the vampire author.

I had found the storyline vaguely disturbing, but apparently it was "obsessive in the fact that you fall in love with the characters so easily and quickly, and that the plot's always twisting and turning, yet following a distinctive path" or at least, that's what Alice had said when she was reading them.

All the thoughts of the humans in front of us were mostly centered on the books the house was in, people thinking odd (to someone who hasn't read the books) questions like '_Is that the window Antha fell out of?' _or,_ 'Is that Deirdre's rocking chair?' _and _'haha, there's Stella's pool! I wonder if it's ever __really__ been filled with champagne?'_

Suddenly two female mortals closest to me struck up a conversation:

"Hey, how many of the Vampire Chronicles books have you read?" the one asked, turning to face her friend.

"I've gotten up to the beginning of Memnoch, you?"

"Me too, are you past the part with the black statue?"

"No…wait…what black statue?"

"Oh, never mind then!" The first one said with a giggle, looking across the street absent-mindedly. Suddenly she caught sight of our family, standing just in the shadow of a streetlight, and glanced at each of us, only slightly curious. Then she caught sight of Jasper. Or rather, Jasper's blonde hair and very pale skin. Her mind went blank with shock, so that I couldn't hear anything.

"Oh my god…is that…" she stuttered, grabbing her friend's arm and spinning her around, pointing at Jasper who stiffened, along with the rest of us. Suddenly one word was shrieked through her silent thoughts as both she and her friend screamed at the same time in piercingly loud girly voices while jumping up and down, almost in hysterics:

"LESTAT!"

The people closest to them cringed away, hands covering their ears, while the majority turned to look at them in confusion before spinning around to see where the girls were pointing. Immediately a huge roar arose from the crowd (most of the people screaming and shouting were women, but there were a few men, I noticed) and as a whole they surged forward, headed straight for Jasper, who looked terrified.

"LESTAT!" they screamed as one, while the people who were just chaperoning their kids or wives just stared in shock and confusion. "Oh crap!" Jasper shouted before turning and running just a little too fast to pass for human, but this just spurred the crowd on even more.

The rest of us turned and followed as quickly as we could, and when we reached the end of the street we found Jasper surrounded by screaming girls, with no way out unless he revealed his supernatural abilities, which defiantly would _not _help, especially seeing as they thought he was some made up vampire character, who not to mention, was created by the vampire author! I could hear his concentration as he tried in vain to calm down the hysterical mob of fangirls (and fanguys) attacking him, and beside me Emmett burst out laughing.

"WE LOVE YOU LESTAT!" One woman screamed, who looked to be about 30 years of age, "C'MON! PICK ME!" another one shrieked, attempting to leap at Jasper, only to get caught in the tangle of people in front of him. Carlisle, looking worried, hurried forward to help him.

"Excuse me," Carlisle said loudly, trying to get the screaming mob's attention. After a few more half-hearted tries, his frustration won out and: "EXCUSE ME! CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" he shouted deafeningly loud, and the crowd went silent, all of them turning to look at Carlisle. But the second they saw him excited whispers broke out, with all of them pointing at Carlisle's hair and remarking about his pale skin. I moved forward so that I could whisper to him what they were thinking, but it turned out they were quite happy to voice their thoughts:

"Is that Marius?"

"No! Marius has white hair, doesn't he?"

"Hey, who's that kid behind him?"

"Holy crap, that's not Armand is it? He looks just like him! Well, except his hair—"

"Yeah, it's too short. Maybe he cut it when he woke up at sunset or whenever?"

"I don't know but…"

Then another voice rang out from the center, an extremely hyper girl, who from her mind I knew her name was Jessica. I found myself laughing despite the tension in the air and the pain in my heart at the loss of Bella. _How many stupid cheerleaders are there named Jessica? _I thought.

But laughing, it seemed, was not a good idea.

"ARMAND! MARIUS!" Jessica, the cheerleader shrieked, pointing at me. My eyes widened as all eyes went from Carlisle to me in a second and then back again. _Oh you have got to be kidding me!_ Both Carlisle and I thought at the same time as the mob charged _us_ this time. Behind their backs, Jasper made his escape towards the mansion over the rooftops, with a laughing, bloodsucking-pixie at his side.

Instantly the second Jasper was out of range, the despair and depression he had been numbing was back I full force.

As we raced away from the humans at a mortal speed, keeping just a few yards in front of their reaching hands. Just as we again reached the end of the street—this time from the way we came—the herd of parents and spouses appeared and helped to rescue us from the tide of grasping hands.

As we raced away from the crowd of still screaming fans with a shout of "thank you!" to the family members restraining their charges, Emmett, still smiling, started laughing again. I smacked him in the back of the head as we jumped onto the nearest roof, and continuing on our way from there. "How can you think this is funny?" I demanded, but he just smiled and said, "I told you moving here was a bad idea! What kind of vampire family is stupid enough to move to a city where a famous author of vampire fiction lives?"

But then his smile faded away, to be replaced with a frown of worry and regret. The name in his mind made me cringe in pain. "I wonder how Bella's doing? I mean, it's only been two days, but it feels much longer than that, you know?" I bit my lip to keep from crying out at the pain, and my expression twisted, from the look on Emmett's face, I was pretty horrible looking. "Don't talk about her." I whispered hoarsely.

Emmett scowled, a rare expression for him. "And why not? Huh? Why shouldn't I talk about Bella, Edward? You're the one that made us leave!" He growled out, glaring at me. I stared, surprised and hurt. What he said was true, and the fact tortured me.

It was then that I heard her name:

_"—In other news: Isabella Swan, a local of Forks, Washington, is thought to have been kidnapped by a family named the Cullen's. Local residents say that Isabella had been dating one of the Cullen's adoptive children, one Edward Mason Cullen, and on the night of her disappearance, the family was said to have moved to L.A, but recent investigation shows that the suspected family has _not_ moved to L.A. as they said they were; instead, a recent report shows that the family has, in fact, bought a property in New Orleans, and are currently living there._

_Investigators have yet to contact the family, though Charlie Swan, the father of Isabella, is determined to find this family, and his daughter, no matter the cost._

_On a lighter subject: tune in tomorrow for the continued story about the youngest ever author to become famous practically overnight, with her first sensational novel, Tale Of A Vampire. __**(=D)**_

_This is NOLN, news at eleven, goodnight America."_

I froze in place, while Carlisle skidded (figuratively) to a stop beside me, and Emmett bounded forward from where he had been behind us to stare into the dimly lit window of the building the news broadcast had come from.

I was frozen, unable to move even an inch; I couldn't even blink. All the agony and worry and terror inside of me that I had felt since I had left Bella rose to a peak as the black hole that was my mind tore me apart from the inside out.

Emmett's fist smashed into the back of my head, shocking me out of my agonized trance for a second as the physical pain overwhelmed the physiological for an instant. "I TOLD YOU WE SHOULDN'T HAVE LEFT! He roared, so loudly that the windows in the buildings around us shook, threatening to shatter and a woman inside the building under us gave a little shriek of fear. He growled viciously at my motionless form before charging across the rooftops heading north, towards Bella.

Carlisle, too was frozen, but a second later he was in action. Whipping out his cell phone, he dialed the house's number and immediately Esme answered. He explained quickly while I struggled through the pain-induced haze that clouded my mind to move even an inch.

"Edward! C'mon!" he said loudly, grabbing my arm, but I didn't respond.

I was frozen.

I couldn't move.

Couldn't even _blink._

Not in the face of this horror, this possible ending of my existence through the death of—No! Don't think her name! Don't even think of that possibility!

Seeing that I couldn't respond, Carlisle grabbed me by my shoulders and lifted me effortlessly into the air, and holding my body aloft like some ancient blood sacrifice, he ran across the rooftops, towards where Emmett and the rest were heading.

Towards Bella, if she was still…

**AN:I shouldn't even have to put this, but I DON'T own NOLN ****(New Orleans Local News) ****((unless it doesn't exist that is, lol)) **

**And yeah, a little arrogance there at the end, but I couldn't resist, lol.**

**Anyways, 15 reviews for this! Who loved it? Who actually got the joke? Lol Edward's such a rip-off of Anne Rice's Armand, I mean really! The bronze hair, Brownish eyes, and the pessimism? Believes they've lost their souls/are damned? Now, why does that sound so familiar?…oh yeah! ARMAND! Who is MUCH better than Edward!**


	12. Blood

True Vamp chapter 12: Blood

**Random fact of the day #1:**** The ****TARDIS**** has been spotted on top of building at M.I.T! The ****Doctor**** is coming to BBC for a new season in 2011!("In 2011…there's going to be a doctor in the house"—so says the commercial)**

**Random fact of the day #2****: ****My Sister**** (apparently) saw Kristen Stuart (person who plays Bella Swan) in the **_**Queen Of The Damned**_** movie, in the crowd around Lestat's concert.**

**Chapter quote:**

"**Are you hungry?"**

"**No I ate a um, think it was a stag."**

**-George to Nina, from BBC's show "Being Human"**

**(They're both werewolves by the way)**

**Code Word (to put in reviews): "BAD WOLF"**

**(For people who watch Doctor Who, you know what I'm talking about!**

**Chapter Song: ****So I Try To Be Like You****, by ****U2**** (well, I **_**think**_** that's what it's called, it's from one of my mom's old U2 CDs labeled "THE BEST OF 1990-2000" with two buffalo on the front and a silver-grey boarder)**

**Some of the lyrics (that **_**I**_** hear at least) are: **

"_**When you look at the world,**_

_**What is it that you see?**_

_**People find all kinds of things**_

_**That bring them to their knees.**_

_**I see an expression,**_

_**So clear and so true,**_

_**It changes the atmosphere**_

_**When you walk into the room.**_

_**So I try to be like you,**_

_**Try to feel like you do…"**_

Part 1: HUNT

**(Bella PoV)**

We were flying again. Or rather, Ash was flying while carrying me beneath him while I struggled to contain all the emotions that were quickly taking over. Guilt and worry for my father, wonder at the world flashing past under us as we flew at impossible speeds under the watchful moon; a heartbreaking sorrow and pain in my heart for Edward, who had left me only last night, and a growing anger at his family's arrogance and cruelty.

I mean, what kind of person; what kind of _family_ abandons one of their own without even saying goodbye? Both Carlisle and Esme had said many times that they loved me like a daughter, but I guess that was the operative word, _like._ I guess it was to be expected; I _was_ only human, when I was with them, and they were friken vampires for crying out loud—

"Actually, the so-called vampires you knew were in fact, Hybrids." Ash said, interrupting my thoughts, and I turned my head to the side to look at him out of one eye as best I could.

"Hybrids? Of _what _exactly?" I asked, confused. Obviously, the Cullens hadn't known anything about the kind of vampires that Ash and I were, so how would they know they're Hybrids?

"No one knows for sure," He frowned, "Legend has it, that one of the First Flight; one of the first Fledglings of the Ancient Lord Sanzac, named Lordaina, fell in love and mated with a species known as the Seraphs."

"Seraphs?" I asked, " What, you mean like Angels?"

"Yes, well, actually, the _concept_ of angels is based off of them. Besides the Lord Sanzac, and the earth itself, they are one of the oldest living things in the world." His voice held a strong revulsion, full of hatred. I tried to read his mind to find out why he hated them so much, but it was blocked.

"Wait a minute," I said, to distract him, "who is this 'Lord Sanzac'?"

"The first human turned into a Vampire ever in the entire history of the world." He said simply. I was amazed.

"Wow."

"Yes, it's pretty amazing, isn't it?" He said, and I thought I heard some sarcasm in his voice. I ignored it.

"It's incredible! How old is he?"

"Even he doesn't know that. When he was made, it was still in the time of hunter-gatherers, when the age of a person was counted in summers, and years were not recorded yet."

"Like Torak from _Wolf Brother_?" I asked, referring to a book I'd read by Michelle Paver.

"Who?" he asked, confused as we landed on the wide bough of a massive pine tree. Then he read my mind, "Oh, yes, kind of like that, but I think he'd be older than 6,000 years." He said as he folded his wings tightly against his back, so they were barely noticeable.

I didn't answer; didn't need to: my mind expressed all the wonder I was feeling for me. He smiled at me before leaping down hundreds of feet to the forest floor, landing silently in a crouch position without the slightest sound; his cloak flaring out behind him, movie-style. He looked up at me, and beckoned me to come down. I hesitated, afraid.

"C'mon, it's easy once you know how. The trick is to _believe_ you can do it, another difficulty in the life of a vampire. You need to expect the unexpected; consider all possibilities when it comes to the senses and your abilities. It's pretty complicated, but simple once you know what you're doing." He told me, and I shook my head in confusion.

"Just jump, and remember that you can do it." he encouraged, and I took a deep breath, an image of what I would see if I were falling in slow-motion coming unbidden to my mind, before stepping out into oblivion.

The fall itself lasted no more than a few seconds, but it felt as if years were passing as my vampire eyes took in every single detail of the night around me. Small insects with wings thrumming buzzed past, flying inches away from my face, while the ground below rose steadily towards me.

Seeing that I was going to land practically on top of him, I instinctively angled my body while pushing on a nearby tree slightly, so that I would land next to him and seconds later I was in the same crouching position Ash had been in. He smiled at me proudly. _Told you so_. He thought smugly and I flashed my fangs at him in a smile.

It was amazing how natural all this was; that I was so accepting of the fact that I was a vampire. I even had fangs, and apparently, I'd be able to fly! _It's odd though_, I thought as Ash smiled at me again before turning and walking into the woods, me quickly following behind him,_ why do I just have two fangs on the top of my mouth, when Ash has four, two on top and two on the bottom?_

"It's another part of being an Adolesc; or an adolescent vampire; the wings, and the added fangs. They grow out at the same time, and when you're an Ancient, all of your teeth become sharp, like a shark's." He said as I walked beside and slightly behind him. "Also, you'll get taller, but not abnormally so. It's so your mortal body looks older."

"So where are we going exactly? Wait, we _are_ hunting right?" I asked as we walked through a small clearing. My throat was getting more and more unbearable by the minute, and I had to resist the temptation to tilt my head up and let the rain—which had been falling steadily for the past five minutes—slide down my parched throat, because I knew it wouldn't help.

"Yes, but there's a certain…Ah! Here we go." He said quietly as we entered a large meadow, which luckily, was not Edward's. In front of us a herd of deer slept soundly, unaware of our silent approach.

On the fringes of the herd, the old and infirm slept; one in particular was older than the rest. Her fur had gone grey, one of her back leg was twisted slightly, and around her closed eyes was puffed, and red rings, giving proof to her weak vision. It was amazing that she had survived so long in the herd without being picked off by predators both natural and unnatural.

The thunder of their hearts, beating in synch, roared in my ears and set the most agonizing burst of thirst up my throat yet. I glanced at Ash, unsure of what I was supposed to do. He nodded his head at the sickly female, and from his mind I felt him reaching out with his consciousness, like he had with the pack.

In a sudden stampede of movement, the herd leaped to its feet with the clatter of hooves on scattered rocks. I twitched in surprise as they all turned to look at us without fear, staring straight at us.

Ash slowly stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the female's, and I felt as much as heard some quit whisper of communication pass from Ash's mind to the doe's. Suddenly the rest of the herd backed away in unison, and turning tail, charged back into the forest, leaving the old doe.

Ash held out his hand, gesturing towards the deer with a dramatic sweep of his hand, though his expression was solemn. Slowly, I crept forward, instinctively keeping low to the ground as I stared into the eyes of the female, the burning thirst finally taking over every other thought.

I could hear and see the pounding of her heart as it pulsed through the vein in her neck. With a sudden, soundless bound, I had crossed the distance between us and my fangs were at her throat; piercing the skin.

Immediately my first taste of blood as a vampire filled my mouth and throat. It was like nothing I had ever had before: it was like a combination of all my favorite drinks and foods as a human, but so much _more._

Though the flavor was indescribable, the feeling it created in me wasn't. It was _amazing_. I felt as if I were floating off the ground; my body filled with warmth and when I opened my eyes I was shocked to see that my skin was no longer pale; instead, it was a normal, healthy shade of tan that I had never had, even in life. I moved my hand so that it hovered over my other arm. I could feel heat radiating out from my skin, the warmth feeling so alien after I had accepted the fact that I would have skin like a Popsicle for eternity.

I looked up at Ash in amazement, the blood still singing in my veins. Everything around me seemed to be just a _bit_ clearer, more detailed. All the sounds were amplified just enough for me to notice.

Ash's face was beautiful—more so than I had noticed before. The subtle glow of his face and arms in the moonlight made him appear as if a ghost, with his dark hair and rainbow black eyes. With his old fashioned cloths, he looked as if he had stepped through a portal in time.

"Ok, Bella. Here comes the hard part." He told me, and I watched, fascinated as his lips formed the words just a split second before I heard them, something I had never really noticed before as a human—"Ok, I know this is all confusing, but you need to focus on what I am telling you!" Ash said loudly and I snapped out of my trance.

"Ok, I probably should have told you this earlier, but it'd probably would have scared you," he said, and instantly my pulse quickened. "Ok," he sighed, before continuing "Once you have had your first taste of blood as a Fledgling vampire, all of your memories—and I do mean _all_ your memories—and knowledge you gained while you were a human will be enhanced and understood and remembered for eternity."

He whispered, staring into my eyes. He sounded as if he were quoting what someone else had told him, or something he had heard many many times. I had just enough time to get out "Wha—" when the flashbacks started, flashing through my mind at the speed of thought.

((Part Two: Memories; Theme song: "Robot Boy" & "Waiting for the End" (both by Linkin Park, from the album "A Thousand Suns")))

Only a few months old: _I was floating in the dark, surrounded by liquid warmth…_

My first day of real life: _Opening my eyes in the cold room, I let out a cry of shock and fear as I saw the huge people standing above me, but then I was put in someone's arms and I quieted down, knowing instinctively that it was my mother._

When I was two:_ Mom shouting at Charlie; her putting me in the back of the car as I cried for Daddy, who was standing in the doorway, watching us leave with tear-filled eyes…_

When I was five: _running to my mom's bedroom, crying because of a nightmare I had had, one that terrified me, though I didn't know why. Angels; stone angels surrounding me…_

On my seventh birthday:_ jumping up in down in excitement as Jimbo the Clown made balloon animals for me and my friends…then later, crying when the giraffe he made for me popped… _

When I was 10:_ Dreaming that I was running through the woods at the speed of light, before leaping into the air: trying to fly, and succeeding for a few seconds, before I slowly fell, only to repeat the process again and again…_

And more recently, only a year ago: _sitting in the cafeteria, I looked over my shoulder at the table where the Cullen's sat, and seeing the blazing eyes staring into mine, I hastily turned away, embarrassed…_

With a shuddering gasp I tried to bring myself out of the memory, sobbing but—

_Walking into biology, I turn to go to my deck, only to see the murderous black eyes of Edward Cullen, seeing his face contort in ways that I had never seen as a human: His lips drew back from his teeth for an instant, baring his teeth. His hands tensed on the desk, as if he were just barely containing himself from leaping at me…_

"No! No, no, no!" I sobbed, for an instant free of the memories, and found myself cradled in Ash's arms, and when I looked up I saw that his rainbow black eyes were unfocused, and knew that he was seeing everything I saw.

_Sitting in the hard metal chair, trying to focus on the lesson, but all the while feeling the hostility coming off of Edward in waves…_

_Staring in shock as Edward moved with inhuman speed out the door, and then meeting Mike Newton, whose infatuation was immediately apparent, when seen from this perspective…_

_Walking into the office at the end of the school day; seeing Edward standing in front of the receptionist, asking in a strained voice if he could change classes, then the girl walking in behind me, and seeing Edward turn around to glare at me, before stalking out…_

_The next day, sitting in the cafeteria, anxiously waiting for Edward to make his appearance, then my confidence when I saw he wasn't in Biology…but knowing that it was my fault…_

_Tyler's van almost crashing into me, Edward moving at impossible speeds so that he was between the oncoming van and me…_

_Seeing Carlisle for the first time…_

_The hospital confrontation with Edward…_

_The first dream I had about Edward…_

Now the memories were coming faster, and as Ash held me in his arms, I could see the tears on his face from the pain we were sharing.

_It was dark; pitch black. Edward stood off to the side, only visible from the corner of my eye, and what little light there was seemed to be radiating from his skin…_

And then a part I had forgotten as a mortal:

_Suddenly I turned my head and saw Edward clearly for the first time. But then he hunched forward, bending double, and he seemed to grow taller; his hair lengthened, curled and grew darker, until it was black. When he looked up again, he was Ash, and he smiled at me with rainbow black eyes before disappearing in a sweep of wings and blazing sunlight…_

_"_What?" Ash whispered, breaking me from my trance, but then I was sucked in again. Now the memories came faster, merely glimpses flashing through my mind, but instantly I knew everything that had happened.

_My brief trip to La Push…_

Seeing Jacob again…

_Finding out that Edward was a vampire— _well, Hybrid…

_All my time spent with Edward…_

_The baseball game…_

_James…_

_Cowering on the floor of the ballet studio as James stalked forward…_

_The burning agony as his venom spread through me…_

_Fighting unconsciousness, I could hear Edward weeping at my side, but in the background, something I had had no memory of: a thought, a thought I knew without a doubt was not mine, and how I heard it I have no idea, but nonetheless, as it was screamed out, I heard: "I'm coming Evangeline!" and then the voice was silenced, with the ripping tear of metal…_

_When I woke up in the hospital…_

_All the time I spent with Edward over the summer…_

_The nightmare I had on my birthday…_

_The party…_

_The paper cut…_

_The blood…_

_The crazed look in Jasper's eyes as he leaped for me… _

_The slashing pain as Edward shoved me backwards, sending me flying…_

_Carlisle fixing my arm…_

_The next few days of Edward stony silence…_

_Edward leaving, with his face stone hard and expressionless…_

_Wandering in the woods, calling out for him…_

And then:

_Ash, with his rainbow-black eyes._

With a sobbing gasp the memories ended, and all the pain and heart break of Edward's leaving washed over me like a tidal wave. As I sobbed, I could feel traces of wetness trailing down my face but I didn't really notice, nor did I think it shouldn't be possible, with me being a vampire.

Ash made soothing sounds as he rocked me, and I had the strangest feeling of being a child again, being comforted by my father.

**AN: Ok people! There's chapter 12! Hope you liked it! and yeah, I'm probably going to be using the word/words Rainbow black to describe their eyes a lot.**

**remember to put BAD WOLF in your reviews! and tell me if you know what it's from!**

**i need at least 10 reviews to update! (and my internet's still down)**


	13. Rebellion: Part One

True Vamp Chapter 13: Rebellion, Part One

**Previously:**

_With a sobbing gasp the memories ended, and all the pain and heart break of Edward's leaving washed over me like a tidal wave. As I sobbed, I could feel traces of wetness trailing down my face but I didn't really notice, nor did I think it shouldn't be possible, with me being a vampire._

_Ash made soothing sounds as he rocked me, and I had the strangest feeling of being a child again, being comforted by my father._

**Chapter song: **

"**Animal I Have Become" by Three Days Grace, **

**And **

"**Wretches and Kings" by Linkin Park.**

**Chapter quote:**

**"'Honey, you're not handling it. I waited, I hoped it would get better.' he stared at me and I looked down quickly.**

**'I think we both know it's not getting better'**

**'I'm fine'**

**He ignored me. 'Maybe, well, maybe if you talked to someone about it. A professional.'**

**'You want me to see a shrink?'****—Bella and Charlie Swan, New Moon****.**

"**Steel unload**

**Final blow!**

**We the animals take control!**

**Hear us now, clear and true:**

_**Wretches and kings we come for you!**_

**Steel unload,**

**Fire blow,**

**Filthy animals beat them low!**

**Skin and bone;**

**Black and blue,**

_**No more this Sun shall**_

_**Beat unto You!"**_

**A Thousand Suns, -ALBUM**

**Wretches and Kings, -SONG**

**Linkin Park, -ARTIST**

**2:18-2:39 –TIME**

"""""""" **The Rebellion, Part one, **_**Part 1**_**: The Pack""""""""**

**One week later: Sept 21****st**

**(Billy PoV)**

**_The Washington Times_**

**Friday, September 15**

**Local resident Isabella Swan, age 18, and member of Fork's High school has been reported missing and possibly kidnapped, just last night. Isabella had been in a romantic relationship with the son of the ex-local doctor, Carlisle Cullen; her relationship with Edward Cullen lasting longer than most high school romances.**

**Since moving to Forks last year to live with her father, Chief of Police Charlie Swan, Bella Swan was almost immediately seen multiple times in the company of Edward Cullen, who, like the rest of his adoptive siblings, caused no problems, but did not interact socially with the rest of their peers.**

**Only months after beginning their relationship, Isabella fled back home to be with her mother, Renee Dawson, in Arizona. When Edward, Carlisle, and Alice Cullen went after her, to convince her to come back to forks, Isabella was reported to have fallen down a flight of stairs and out a window in the hotel the Cullen's were staying in, breaking her leg and losing a lot of blood, among other extensive and minor injuries.**

**Perhaps by coincidence, a nearby Ballet studio, where as a child Isabella had learned ballet, was looted and set on fire by unknown arsonists, who left a stolen car out side the main doors.**

**On Isabella's birthday, Charlie Swan told authorities that she had gone to the Cullen's house to celebrate her birthday. He also mentioned that she seemed reluctant to leave, with Edward seeming to have to pull her out the door.**

**When she returned home from the party, he noticed that her arm had been bandaged heavily. She'd told him she had tripped, and he had thought nothing more of it, seeing as Isabella was a notorious klutz. Only a day after her birthday celebration, Dr. Carlisle Cullen announced to the hospital that he and his family—including Edward Cullen—were moving to Los Angeles. This fact has been proven false by Merek Hughes, an officer in the recently established Archangel Detective Agency—**

Hearing Jacob's thumping footsteps on the stairs, I quickly folded the week old newspaper closed and placed it under my plate—out of sight. Jacob himself came stomping down the stairs, dressed in some old jeans and a grey shirt. In his hand he held a map, a compass, and the camera he had bought with his car repair money.

Though I already knew the answer, I asked: "Where are you going? And at this hour?" It was early in the morning, just eight-o'-clock.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm going to look for her." He retorted, stalking toward the door. I was worried; he'd started having a bad attitude ever since _that_ night, and he was running a temperature, but he wasn't due to phase until a couple of months from now.

"Jacob, you heard what Sam said, I'm sorry but Bella's gone; there's no point in—"

"_WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP ABOUT SAM! I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT SAM SAID!"_ Jacob shouted, rounding on me, his face twisted in fury, teeth bared and eyes blazing, entire body shaking. Shocked, and more than a little afraid, I hastily wheeled my chair backwards.

Jacob must have seen my expression, because he immediately turned around and ran out the door, slamming it shut.

Shaken, I berated myself for provoking him, and reached out for the phone, which had been lowered so that I could reach it from my chair.

Sighing in resignation, I dialed Sam's number.

Jacob was going to phase soon.

**(Jacob PoV)**

As I ran out the door, I could feel all the rage I had felt for my father building instead of lessening, as I ran at a tremendous pace into the familiar woods behind the house.

The rage was a primal thing; something I couldn't control; couldn't understand where it was coming from. As I dashed through the forest, dodging trees and boulders and whipping branches that whipped past in blurs, with the rage building with every thought about Bella, and how Cullen had taken her, I began to feel…strange.

The shaking did not stop, but it hardly seemed to matter, because now I was running faster than ever: strides lengthening, I ran and leaped over fallen logs with an ease I had never had before. Even my eyes and ears seemed to be more powerful; I could see for what felt like miles around, and even the slightest rustle of a mouse in the leaves was loud to my ears.

When I felt the first cramp in my leg, it was so unexpected that, one second I was running, the next, _Wham!_ I was on the ground, clutching my leg as agony seized the muscles there.

**(Yeah, I'm writing from person experience here—one second, I'm watching TV, move to get up from the couch, slide over one of the armrest thingies, stand up, and _BAM! _Next thing I know, I've fallen to the ground, nearly hitting my head on the concrete ledge in front of our fireplace, with Rjalker and my little bro staring at me—and let me just say: holy friken crap that _HURT!)_**

"_Ow, ow, ow, ow, Ow!"_ I gasped, unable to stay silent; the pain was so bad. I hadn't ever had a cramp that I could remember; except for one time when I was learning to swim, but that hadn't been nearly this bad. A minute later, I had some good news, and some bad news.

The good news was; the cramp was going away.

The bad news was; my arms and other legs started to cramp too. And just as badly, if not worse.

The rage was replaced with terror.

Struggling not to scream, I rolled onto my back, staring at the sky as my very muscles and bones seemed to riot against me. The shaking had still not stopped; in fact it seemed to be getting worse, and I wondered at the back of my mind—the part that wasn't clouded with pain— if I wasn't having a seizure or something.

Suddenly I felt the shaking of my convulsing muscles reach it peak and with a sick, ripping sensation, I exploded. Suddenly all around me the forest exploded into a roar of sound; Birds chirped, falcons screamed, squirrels and chipmunks chattered and chittered to each other among the treetops as they raced from tree to tree.

The wind roared and whistled in high and low notes; every snap and creak of the trees around me was heard in astonishing volume. I could even hear the heartbeats of the animals around me, and as I struggled to rise to my feet, I knew that I had gone crazy.

And not just because of the mountain of fur I had become, or the fact that I was standing—well, attempting to—on four legs, and that I could feel some new appendage, a tail, I thought.

No, I knew I was insane because of what I had just noticed on a giant tree, about two yards away.

Embedded slightly in the trunk of the huge tree, was the outline of what appeared to be a human form—except this looked as if it had been branded into the wood, and soot covered the ground around it, and when the wind blew, some flaked off. There was what looked like deep indentations in the tree, which resembled what I'd imagine someone digging their nails into the wood in the convulsions of agony would look like.

Managing to climb to my feet, I staggered to the tree to investigate; the mysterious imprint in the wood capturing all my attention, distracting me from my fear and confusion.

Approaching slowly, nearly stumbling, not used to my stress-induced hallucination or whatever it was, I lowered my head to stare directly at the place where the head-shaped burn was at eye level.

_Why am I so calm?_ I wondered as I cautiously leaned forward to look at the wood more closely—

_JACOB!_ Sam Uley's voice shouted in my ear.

_What the hell?_ With a yelp of surprise, I spun around, expecting to see him, but there was no one there but a small red squirrel that froze, dropping a walnut, staring at me for a second before dashing away.

_Oh, god if I didn't know I was crazy before, I know now! _I thought as my eyes scanned the forest around me. _Hearing voices…never a good sign._

_You're not hearing voices, Jacob. I know this is hard to understand but you're a werewolf_—_one of the tribe's protectors._

I snorted in laughter, _yep, defiantly crazy._

_You're not crazy; just listen to me will you?_

_Sure, sure. Might as well go along with it…_

_Okay, you know the legend of how our tribe is—_

_Descended from wolves?_

_Yeah,_

_What about it?_

_It's true—well, mostly true._

_How can it be mostly true?_

_Well, the great chief Taha Aki, one of the first spirit warriors…well, it's too long to tell you the whole tale now, but he basically spirit walked into a wolf when another man stole his body, and Taha Aki transformed back into a human when he got angry. Then the rest of his male descendents were able to transform—or phase, as we call it—into wolves once they were of age, and they protected the tribe from the Cold Ones—_

_Wait, what? Cold Ones? You mean like the Cullen's are supposed to be?_

_Yes, and—_

_Don't tell me your serious._

_I am completely serious, Jacob, when the Cullen's left, and we found out Bella was missing—_

_WAIT! You're the one who found the blood and clothes right? They…they didn't kill her did they? Oh god, please tell me she's not dead…_

_We saw her last night…but she was already gone…_

_No! I can see it in you're thoughts, she was alive!_

_Only in appearances, the man that was with her had turned her into a vampire—_

_What do you mean? That guy looks nothing like the Cullen's…and whoa, what's with the wings? Ah! Getting off track…_

_The Cullen's aren't the only vampire's out there, Jacob. There is one legend, kept secret from the rest of the tribe by the Council, about how a man, named Soar, the son of Tain, the hunter who helped the wolf Lunabell*, met a strange man in the woods. The man was pale, paler than the Cold Ones, with long black hair and black eyes, but he did not venture into the light, and seemed terrified of the torch Soar carried._

_Soar was of course, afraid, and he called out to the Pack for protection._

_Then the man attacked. He leaped right for Soar, and seemed to fly, which of course he did, because the man, who we call the Old One, had wings like a demon, and fangs like a snake. Fortunately for Soar, the Pack, including Kenku, Fell, and Jacen*, arrived and got Soar out of the path of the Old One._

_But the Old One was fast, and he turned and attacked Fell, sinking his fangs into Fell's leg. Terrified for their brother, Kenku and Jacen both leaped for the Old One, and he released Fell when he spun around to knock the two wolves out of the way._

_Soar, seeing that the pack was in trouble, did the only thing he could while the Old One was distracted: he threw the torch._

_Immediately the Old One caught fire, and screaming in agony, leaped clumsily into flight, flying over the tribesmen's heads at such speeds that they hardly had time to react—_

Suddenly I could hear…something; like a soundless shimmer in the air. It was weird, but strangely familiar. A second later I could hear Paul's thoughts in my mind. From his thoughts I knew he was nearby, and coming towards me, as was Sam.

_Aha! Finally, you phased! Oh, but too late to get any action. The vamps left town already._

The sudden reminder made me think of Bella again.

_Oh yeah, the vampire girl? I say good riddance. I'm glad they took her; I still think we should have taken her out earlier, consorting with the enemy and all—_

_What did you just say?_ I growled; growing enraged again.

_Paul…_ Sam warned, but Paul continued. Sam began to run faster.

_What? I'm just stating facts is all. I'm glad we got to take a piece outa her, but man, that stuff is nasty!_

And here the most rage-inducing thing that had transpired all day passed through Paul's mind:

_Paul, leaping forward to a pale-as-death Bella, who backed away as Paul's teeth sank into her arm, and with a wet, ripping, cracking sound, her arm came away in his powerful jaws._

_Blood splashed from the gaping wound in her shoulder, splattering across her face and Paul's as it poured to the ground in a crimson stream. A nub of bone was visible in her eviscerated arm socket, along with bits of bloody flesh._

_Her scream of agony as she stumbled backwards, and the other vampire's shout of "_NO!"_ when he saw it; the sudden feeling of weightlessness as the vampire picked him up, then pain as he crashed into Jared and Sam…_

A black wave of nausea and a burning inferno of fury consumed me, just as Paul burst out of the bushes. Paul was huge, grey and shaggy, with leg muscles bulging, mouth open as he panted, and revealing huge canines as sharp as knives. But none of that mattered in the face of my rage.

With a howl, I leaped at him without even thinking; my attack surprised him and I succeeded in knocking him to the ground, locking my teeth around his left front leg in an inexperienced attempt to restrain him.

_JACOB! Stop NOW!_ Sam shouted with his thoughts, the words holding a strange timbre; but the command had no hold over me.

Snarling, Paul leaped to his feet, swatting me to the side and lunging for me before I could regain my feet. I felt his teeth clamp down on the loose fur at the back of my neck and his claws digging into my back.

_That all you got?_ Paul snarled with his thoughts.

Gathering my strength, I pushed off from the ground quickly, the force sending a very surprised Paul flying. Springing to my feet I whirled around and in the blink of an eye, I had shoved Paul against a tree, sending it toppling to the ground; splintering under our weight.

Paul yelped in surprise and pain as wood went flying, attempting to get back to his feet, but before he could, I had slammed into him again, snarling and growling; biting and tearing at every bit of him I could reach.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard again that soundless shimmer, and Sam shouted something to whoever it was, but I didn't hear.

Just then Sam came crashing into the clearing, roaring at us to stop. When again I did not listen, he bounded forward; a black blur, to crash into me, sending me staggering to the side. Still filled with such pounding rage, I began to turn around to attack him too, but before I had even completed a full turn, another wolf—Jared, with dark brown fur—slammed into me, pinning me to the ground.

_Jake! Calm down!_

_Jacob, she was fine! That other vampire healed her! _Sam shouted, his words finally breaking through my rage-induced haze.

Slowly I stopped struggling as the memory from Sam's mind washed over me, and then a kind of relief when I saw the man; the Vampire, grab Bella and leap into the air, flying to safety.

Paul was angry about how I was thinking, but did not dare to say something, lest I attack again and leave him in even worse shape than he was now. Blood spilled from numerous cuts and bites, and his fur was matted with crimson. When he stood he barked out a gasp and lifted his left forepaw off the ground, the one I had first bitten.

It was only when I had calmed down that I noticed everyone was staring at me in shock, their thoughts soundless in their astonishment. It was only then that I realized that none of them had been paying attention to my fur color; not when I was tearing into Paul so viciously, but now, now they stared.

From their minds I could see myself very clearly. I was huge, about the size of a horse, like them, but I was taller, taller than even Sam. But the most astonishing thing was my fur. It was the darkest black imaginable, like onyx, but it was somehow… iridescent, like an opal. It shone in the sunlight different colors, sending out little tiny preternatural prisms.

Like the eyes of a Vampire.

**Quote:**

**"A car accident, like my mom. So common happened all the time…closed casket ceremony, of course. My mom's coffin had been nailed shut…"**

**—Jacob, Breaking Dawn, 149.**

**Part Two: Therapy **

(The song for this is "Walk On" by U2, one of their best songs ever!)

**One Week Later: Sept 21st**

**(Charlie PoV**)

"_What?"_ I shouted as I stared incredulously at Billy and Harry, who stood—well, in one case at least—on either side of the truck. I hadn't asked where they were taking me, and why, until I saw the sign for the Fork's Psychiatry Center sitting at the mouth of an entrance which Harry steered the truck up.

The Fork's Psychiatry Center was familiar to me; I had spent some time here after Renée left, taking Bella with her. I had a feeling about why Billy and Harry had brought me here.

Even after a week of no results but that scrap of jacket, blood—identified as Bella's, though it had been contaminated by an unknown source—and the fingerprints Merek had tried, and failed to identify, I still had not given up. The day after Bella had been missing for 24 hours, Renée and Phil showed up, ready to go running into the woods at a moments notice.

When one of the Quileute boys had told her that Bella was gone, Renée had slapped him right across the face, knocking him off his feet with the force of the blow. After one backward glance, the kid had run away from the crazy mother empowered by righteous anger.

After that, no one made a comment about Bella, at least not when they thought we were listening. But I could still hear them, and it made me wonder why all these Quileute kids—besides Jacob, and Leah Clearwater, (Harry's daughter, who seemed to have a crush on the former)—were here, if they all thought she was dead.

"C'mon, Charlie. Be reasonable; it's been a week, and no one's found any more evidence of anything—"

"Yeah, except no one's been able to get in contact with the _Cullen's._" I said, hissing the name.

"There's no proof that they had anything to do with—"

"Except the note, and the fact that they moved the very same night she disappeared, _and_ they lied about where they were moving to!"

"Will you just let me _talk_?" Billy said in strained patience, I sighed.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Thank you," he paused, as if thinking of what to say. "Charlie…I know what you must be going through, the thought of losing Jacob—" he shook his head. "It hurts. Especially when he's acting as if he could care less about me, just storming out of the house without a goodbye…but anyways, Charlie, you need this. You need to accept the fact that, whatever you may think, she's gone. You need closure; like I had to when Sarah…" he cleared his throat, blinking.

Immediately I felt sympathy for my best friend. He'd been through it all, losing his wife…and her unborn child. He had told me, just a week ago, on the first night when Sam found the bloodied jacket, that Sarah had been pregnant, by only a couple of months. She had called him on her way back from the drugstore where they sold pregnancy tests.

It was only seconds after she told him that he heard her scream, and the sound of tires screeching, of metal crumpling, before the phone went dead.

He had rushed as fast as he could to the car, leaving Jacob in Rachel and Kim's care, and sped off toward the road he knew she had been on. Traffic had stopped, and people were getting out of their cars, some angry at the delay, and the people closest to the accident were crying.

When he had run up to see what was happening, a policeman had tried to hold him back, but he had shoved past him, running to the flaming car. But fate did not smile on him that day.

The car had exploded just as he reached it.

Propelled backwards by the blast, he had slammed into a telephone pole, nearly snapping his spine, resulting in his being paralyzed from the waist down. When he regained consciousness in the hospital, a doctor told him what had happened to Sarah, at Billy's insistence.

When authorities arrived and had put out the fire, police and firemen had worked together to pull Sarah's body out of the car. All that was left was a blackened, fire burnt husk, burned beyond the help of dental records. Her funeral had been close-casket, of course. Billy and the girls' had cried the entire time, while little Jake sat, confused and asking where his mother was.

Sighing, I walked up to Billy and clamped him on the shoulder. "Ok." I said, "Ok."

Seeing as he wasn't needed anymore, Harry walked back to his car, and after telling Billy he was going to check on the 'situation', he drove away. I looked at Billy quizzically. He shrugged, "Jacob's having some…attitude problems." He said simply. I didn't ask; I already knew why.

He hadn't given up on Bella either.

When we walked into the FPC building, the first thing I noticed was the colors, new since last I'd been in here. The old, grey carpet had been replaced with a bright white, and a heavy-duty carpet cleaner in one corner. The walls were painted soft lavender, and small, seemingly random paintings adorned the walls: A Van Gogh painting hung on the wall, one of my favorites: Starry Night, along with a Mona Lisa, a painting of a sunflower, and a garden/

We walked up to the desk where a woman (her nametag identified her as Sophie Mason) slid back a glass window and asked us if we had an appointment. I opened my mouth to say no, but Billy spoke before I could. "Yes, I scheduled an appointment today, for Charlie Swan?" He asked, and the women, Sophie, nodded.

Standing up with a smile, Sophie said, "Right this way; you'll be with Doctor Harkness for this evening, and all following appointments." She told him as she led him down a corridor, leaving Billy in the waiting room. He thought he detected a hint of jealousy in her tone when she said the man's name.

"Oh yeah, you're not afraid of the dark are you? Any claustrophobia?" she said, as we stopped outside a door.

I looked at her in confusion, shaking my head no.

"Good, because Dane has this rare skin condition, so that he can't go out in any kind of bright light; something about some nutrient deficiency he was born with, so we have to keep the lights low in his room." She said, and I nodded in sympathetic understanding; my great-great grandfather had had the same problem.

"Come in, my dear Sophie, no need to keep our guest waiting." Said a quiet voice from behind the closed door, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. _Creepy,_ it sounded like something an evil mastermind would say, just before he murders his victim, usually very painfully.

_Okay,_ I thought, _now I defiantly know I need to go to therapy; how pessimistic can you get?_

And with that, I walked through the door, into the dark room.

The sight I saw made me gasp, and take a staggering step backwards in horror.

**AN: Yep! A massive cliffhanger! So, in a review, (I want 10, as always) tell me what you think he saw!**

**And wow, this is one of my longer True Vamp Chaps, coming out (without this AN) at 4,075 words, and…4,970 total!**

**I felt bad about all the rest of my boring &/or short chaps, so I made this, and chap 14 long, and very, very important.**

**In a two-part (well, technically more that that) segment of Back-At-Home chapters.**

**(B-A-H (BAH)—you'll probably see that term a lot in the rest of this story's chaps, so remember what it means!)**

***_ INTERCONNECTION! _How I love them! This one's from my first Fanfic, (and horribly written, if I do say so myself, though you all seemed to love it) Gone Wolf!**

****_INTERCONNECTION:_ Birth By Sleep, (the sequel (and also horribly written) to Gone Wolf) the legend told to Bella in her dream.**

**So, 10 review! You know the drill, and it shouldn't be too hard.**

**Anyways, here are some interesting things I'd like to see your comments about in reviews:**

**What do you think Charlie sees?**

**Anyone notice my comment about Leah? **

**What do you think had happened to Bella & Ash in the past week?**

**Where do you think the Cullen's are? **

**What's Edward doing?**

**Why do you think Jake's fur is that color? **

**(Yeah, I didn't want to stick with the Russet-brown fur; that just made it way to obvious in the book that it was Jacob, because Bella thought his skin was beautiful, (and to me,) it might have something to do with the fact that he's the true Alpha/ chief of the tribe, but not in this he's not. Well, technically…but you'll see what I mean.**

**Oh yeah, one last thing: I can guarantee you, that _Bella IS NOT going to end of with Edward in this story, nor any other that I write!_**

**A bunch of you guys have been asking if she is, and she's not. not ever in any of my stories has she ever been with Edward, except in the beginning of the story. She's always gonna end of with someone else, (usually Jake, or one of my OC)**

**Reason? Edward is an obsessed stalker, a control freak, a pessimistic, masochistic, woe-is-me pathetic vampire, he's over a hundred years old, and still acts like a teenager, he's a rip-off of Anne Rice's Armand (who I both love and hate—but mostly love) and he _sparkles for crying out loud!_**

**And yeah, I've already figured out what's gong to happen to him, in this story. I'm not going to tell, but…lets just say… that Hybrid's inherited more from their Seraph father, than their Vampire mother.**

**Code word[s]: Thirst No. 3**

**(Tell me in a review if you know what it means, but if it's too vague, here's a hint: SITA!)**

**oh yeah, (for those of you who havent) dont forget to vote on my profile pole!**


	14. Rebellion: Part Two

**True Vamp Chapter 14: The Rebellion, Part Two.**

**Previously:**

_Okay__, I thought__, now I defiantly know I need to go to therapy; how pessimistic can you get?_

_And with that, I walked through the door, into the dark room._

_The sight I saw made me gasp, and take a staggering step backwards in horror._

**Oh yeah, I've just realized (while listening to it) that a major theme for True Vamp is "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson, and not just for Bella, but for everyone involved in this story.**

**(Breakaway has been one of my favorite songs since…whenever it is that it came out. I remember listening to it in the car when I was a kid.)**

**Chapter quote: **

"**Floating down, as colors fill the light, look up from the ground, in fields of paperwhite; and floating up, you pass us in the night, a future gazing out; a past to overwrite." **

—**3:03- 3:39 of "Blackout" by Linkin Park.**

**Chapter songs: "Wretches and Kings" and, "The Catalyst" by Linkin park.**

**Disclaimer: **

**I don't own Twilight, nor do I own The Thorn Birds, they belong to their respective authors. **

**I DO however, own all the original characters in this story (and trust me, there will be so many, you'll probably never keep track of them!) including: Sophie, the secretary, Dante; Doctor Dane Harkness (yeah, I couldn't resist on the last name—I was tempted to name him Jack instead of Dane…if you know who I'm talking about, lol)**

**I own all Vampire &/or Vampiric objects/things/ideas and characteristics in this chapter and all the rest of this story, and any sequels that may arise. **

**I don't know if this is true, but I _think_ I own Michael Night, but I'm not sure; maybe the _concept_ of him. You'll see later in this chap—don't worry if you're confused.**

**OH YEAH! I totally forgot about this, but I OWN:**

**The _Archangel Detective Agency_! It is mine, and only mine. The logo design is mine—(I think I'm going to ask my mom if she can make me a tee-shirt with it on it—make it look like an actual business/agency) and all workers/operatives/detective (all OC) who work at it are MINE! **

**Yeah, as my over exuberant disclaimer indicates, the Archangel Detective Agency (from here on out known as ADA in AN's) is going to play an important role in this story, and a bunch of my other Original stories.**

**(In fact, I've got a nearly complete short story titled ARCHANGEL, who's main character is an Archangel Detective. (lol, the main character, Alex Sparks, is actually Ash in another universe—I couldn't resist, he's my favorite OC of all time!)**

**Anyways, I'll eventually post it on Fictionpress whenever it's done, that, &/or I'm going to submit it to my schools writing club (which I am a proud member of!) so that it'll be published in our own little book.**

**(Charlie PoV)**

The sight of the man sitting in the dark corner shocked me. I don't know what I was expecting, but to say I was surprised would be an understatement.

The man's hair was long, and dark, either brown or black; I couldn't tell in the low lighting what exactly the color was. I'd known he would be pale, because of his skin condition, but this…this was one of the freakiest things I've seen. The man—Doctor Harkness, Dane, or whatever—his skin was paper white, the palest, most sickly looking skin I've ever seen, paler even than Bella, and almost as pale as the Cullen's.

His features were cast partially in shadow, and I couldn't see his mouth or eyes. It made shivers go up my back. If he were looking at me right now, (and he most likely was) it'd be impossible to tell. Suddenly the man moved, leaning forward slowly, as if he could sense my nervousness.

The mouth, now visible, stretched wide in a smile, and I saw that the man's teeth were pure white, like you only see on TV shows and commercials. I felt an odd relief when he opened his mouth to talk, as if I were expecting vampire fangs or something.

"Hello, Charlie Swan."

I felt goosebumps rise on my skin. Again, that voice, so darkly haunting, and mysterious— I snorted silently in my head. _Look at yourself old man—you should write a book or something! And now I'm just being rude, I should say hi…_

"Hello, Doctor Harkness—uh," I couldn't think of what to say after that. '_How was your day?' that's just sound stupid, especially because he can't go outside, or anything…_

"Please, take a seat, Charlie. You don't mind if I call you Charlie do you?" the man asked, and he sounded perfectly normal.

"No, not at all, I don't mind." I said as I took a seat on a black couch against the wall, across from him.

"Ok, then I shall call you Charlie, and you can call me Dane. Agreed?" he asked, and leaning forward all the way, I was finally able to see his entire face. His eyes were black, like the Quileutes', and his face had an elfish cast to it, though why I thought of it that way I don't know. His face was friendly, and immediately I felt myself relax.

But there was something, nagging at the back of my mind. "Dane…that name, it sounds familiar, but I don't know where—" I started to say, but Doctor Harkness—Dane, I corrected, laughed.

"Hmm, yes, do you know if Renée, your ex, if you don't mind me mentioning her, ever read **The Thorn Birds**, by Colleen McCullough?"

I pondered that for a second, before remembering that Renée had read it, in the early years of our marriage, and one of the main reasons I remembered it was because while reading it in a restraunt while we waited for our food, (reading was one of those hobbies she started and then dropped, unfinished) she had gotten to a certain part of the book, and I'm just sitting there, minding my own business, when she suddenly punches her fist in the air, shouting _"YES!"_ loud enough for everyone to turn their heads in our direction.

**(Lol, true story, although altered a bit. _I_ was sitting in our school cafeteria, and I get to the one part at the beach (can't say—spoilers) and I read it and because i thought it was 'the other guy' and it wasn't, it was _him_, I practically screamed, "_yes!" _so loudly, I scared my twin, Rjalker. I must not have shouted as loud as I thought I did, because no one else seemed to notice, lol)**

I smiled at the memory; even though she'd nearly given me a heart attack, along with everyone else there, it was one of the fonder memories of Renée I had.

"Yes, I remember now; that was one of the books she actually finished. She said she cried while reading it."

Dane nodded, "yes, and one of the children in the book is named Dane, which I'm guessing your wife mentioned, if my name is familiar to you." He said with a smile that made his face seem to brighten by a few degrees, becoming more open and friendly.

I nodded, and we sat there for a few moments, me not knowing what to say. I felt awkward, like I usually did when I was talking with someone other than Billy, or Harry, my two best friends.

After a few more seconds of silence, in which I could hear a clock ticking, Dane leaned forward, hands folded on his lap. For a second I struggled to see if he had a ring on his finger, curious to see if he was married.

"So, Charlie, do you have any idea why your friend made this appointment for you?" Dane asked, and I snapped my attention back to his face.

"Yes, I think I do." I say slowly, unwilling to admit defeat, to admit that my daughter was dead.

"And that is…?" Dane pressed. I knew that he knew the reason, he just wanted me to say it, to get it off my chest, and he probably knew I knew that.

"I don't think my daughter is dead, even after a week of no new evidence, except for some of her blood, a tattered piece of her jacket, and a fingerprint belonging to no one." I said, and even to me it sounded flat, hopeless.

Dane's eyes widened a fraction of an inch and he leaned forward more, his black eyes staring into my brown.

"A fingerprint belonging to no one? Interesting. And how do you know this?" Dane asked, pulling out a notepad. He hesitated before writing. "Do you mind?" he asked politely, gesturing to the notepad, and I nodded consent. He smiled before he began to write notes.

"Well, I got together a second search team, with the kids from Fork's high—my daughter, Bella's friends—after the others didn't want to search anymore. Some of the kids found Bella's footsteps leading into the woods, and we followed them till we came to a very violent scene of wreckage. Trees had been uprooted, there was dried blood everywhere, and by one of the trees was the imprint of a hand in the dirt."

I took a breath before continuing: "After making sure all the kids were far enough away so they wouldn't see all the…carnage… I took a picture of the fingerprint and when we got all the kids home, I sent it in to my friend Merek Hughes, who works at the Archangel Detective Agency." I said, pausing again to allow Dane time to write. When he was done and had gestured for me to keep going, I continued: "Later that night, Merek called me back, but he had some rather…uh, disturbing news." I said, trying to contain the emotion in my voice.

"He had analyzed the photo of the fingerprint using the Agency's new high-tech computers they have, and even though they have this huge database the government uses that's filled with practically everyone any anyone in the US with or without a criminal record, they couldn't find a match. *

"And I'm being serious here—they've got every single documented fingerprint in the history of the US on that computer! And they couldn't find a match!" I said, nearly shouting, and Dane blinked in amazement at the fact. Or the volume of my voice.

Dane nodded slowly. "Okay, we'll come back to this later—you must give me more details about this detective agency—possibly during another meeting? I have more questions to ask of you," he said, and I nodded, slightly abashed about my shout.

"So, Charlie, have you had any strange dreams since your daughter's disappearance?" Dane asked, and I immediately thought of the dream I'd had a day after she disappeared.

"Actually, I have," I told him and proceeded to describe the dream I had had when she disappeared, and all the others that had followed.

**(Dane 3rd PoV)**

Long after Charlie Swan had left, Doctor Dane Harkness, more commonly known among his people as Dante, sat in his chair, alone in the building, all other staff having gone home.

Dane Harkness was not his real name, but then again, neither was Dante. All immortals changed their names, at least once during eternity. This 'doctor' alias had been invented so that he could go about in the day, albeit shielded from the sun. Unlike most of his kind, he had inherited his father's inability to stand the light of the sun. _At least I'm able to stay awake all day_, He thought as he pondered Charlie Swan and his daughter.

_It's obvious from his dreams that he is a child of the moon—or the descendent of a child of the moon. They're almost all of their dreams are prophetic, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time, or even if they can't remember them…_

Suddenly he felt a deep weariness, and closing his eyes, he leaned back in his chair in the dark room, feeling, just on the edge of consciousness, all the minds he was connected to, if only in his dreams.

He could remember very clearly, the pain he had felt when the untrained Adolesc, John, had burned in the sun, his sire having died shortly after his last fledgling was made. John's mind had been strangely cut-off from the Collective, and no one had known about him until it was too late.

Suddenly, Dante thought of the character he had gotten his alias's last name from, a character from a popular BBC America TV show, 'Doctor Who', and the adult spin-off, 'Torchwood'.

With a smile on his face at the thought of Captain Jack Harkness, Dante fell into sleep.

But his rest was far from peaceful.

**(Jacob PoV)—Theme song: Numb, by Linkin Park.**

Shocked, Jared slowly got off of me and backed away so that he was beside Paul and Sam. Slowly, I stood up from where I had been laying on the ground. Shaking off my fur as I stood. They were even more astounded when I rose to my full height, and even I was shocked. I towered over them all by maybe a foot.

We were all silent as they looked at me, and as I, through their minds, looked at myself. I was tall, yes, but well built too; strong enough to beat Paul, who was the most muscled of the rest. My eyes were still their normal black, but their darkness was lost in the rest of my fur; all I could see were the whites of my eyes, which were almost glowing against the backdrop of black.

Suddenly I realized that the others were afraid. This had never happened before, no legend; nothing. No warning; I was a mystery, an enigma, _a threat…_

I jerked in surprise at Sam's thought. _How am I a threat?_ I demanded; eyes blazing as I turned to face him.

_I'm sorry Jacob, but as you've said, you're a mystery; no one's ever seen something like this before. You, Jacob Black, are an unknown. And the unknown is a threat; a risk I am not willing to take._

I could feel it then; feel Sam's fear; fear for the pack, for the tribe, and for Emily, his Imprint, what ever that was.

I could feel all the rage that I had thought had disappeared, come back in full force now as Sam shouted, _Jared, Paul, restrain him!_

They hesitated, even Paul, who hated me, was uncertain; _why exactly is he a threat?_

But then Sam shouted in that odd timbre, that resonating tone of authority, and they obeyed. It was then that I realized what he was doing: it was an Alpha command,

They had to listen; it was impossible for them to stop from springing forward from their places beside Sam; impossible for them to not growl in a simultaneous second, their instincts kicking in; impossible for them to not leap on my shocked and still form, and send me crashing to the ground, with them holding me down.

I snarled loudly when I came back to my senses; kicking and struggling, I tried and failed at getting them off of me, growling even louder in rage when Sam threw his head back and howled loudly, calling for the elders in three short sharp barks and one long howl.

Sam gave another alpha command, this time directed at me: **_Stand, Jacob, and go where I order you_.**

Snarling, I bared my teeth at him. _Go to hell!_

Sam growled again, and lunged forward, teeth bared as his control snapped. In the instant after he leaped, I felt shock coming from both Paul and Jared; Sam had never acted like this, he was always calm and in control, always rational…

Their shock at Sam's behavior was what allowed me to get free.

In a split second, I was off the ground and crashing through the forest, with Sam—and, after he had ordered them—Jared and Paul in grudging pursuit.

I pushed myself to run faster, and faster, and faster still.

Soon the earth was flying by under my feet, which hardly seemed to touch the ground anymore, and trees flashed by at who-knows-how-many miles per hour. I could hear Jared and Paul right behind me, with Sam attempting to circle around in front.

Pack minds can be very useful.

Up ahead, I could see the edge of the forest approaching, and people from the tribe were running towards us.

Putting on a burst of speed, I zigzagged through the forest, dogging trees and leaping over boulders as patches of sunlight began to appear on the ground. Once I was out, I was going to try to circle around the humans, and change back—however I did that—so that I could tell them what was happening before Sam got out of the trees.

Just as I broke free from the tree line, and was wondering how _exactly_ I would change back into a human, Sam, in his human form, tackled me from behind, having heard my plan, and changed back so I wouldn't hear _him_.

Pack minds can be very annoying.

The force of Sam's momentum and mine combined sent us flying forward, past the Elders—a group of older men and women, who had gathered at the edge of the forest—who gave out cries of shock and fear at the blur of snarling black with the naked human on its back.

Suddenly I heard one of the Elders shout, and at the edge of the crowd, I saw a shocked and terrified Leah Clearwater, staring at me. I looked into her eyes, and could not look away; I was mesmerized; time seemed to slow down, to freeze.

Then I felt as much as heard the loud _BANG _of a gun; felt a small pain in the back of my neck, and before I knew what was happening, everything went black.

The last thing I heard was Leah's scream.

* * *

**First things first: I have a challenge for you! As some of you may have noticed, True Vamp has 140 reviews; and as some of you probably _haven't_ noticed, my first fic, (Gone Wolf) has 162 reviews, which is the most that I've gotten for one single story.**

**So, the challenge: I would absolutely _love it_ if for this chapter alone, so many of you review, that we beat my milestone of 162! How about it? **

**And as a reward, the winners—(the first person to give me a LENGTHY first review, and the last person to give me a LENGTHY review) **

**[[[Lengthy, as in: details as to _why_ you liked this chap, what you think is going to happen, what you think other people are doing right now, speculations on the species of a certain Doctor Dane Harkness, also known as Dante…]]]**

—**The winners will be able to either create his or her own Character which _will_ be put in this story one way or another (or an animal you think could evolve to better survive on our chocking planet sometimes within a 100 years into the future),**

**Or they can ask me any question at all about my species of Vampires, Werewolves, Seraphs, Witches (haven't really figured anything about them yet), Ghosts, any animal that is likely**

**SO! How'd you like it? Anyone confused? Anyone angry? Anyone thinking '_what the heck is she tying to pull with Sam? He'd never act like this!" _?**

**Yeah, even I knew Sam was a little out of character, but hey, he needs to act like this, at least for these first few chaps.**

**Oh yeah, next chapter (and I swear it on the sacred daytime-resting place of the Vampire Ash) that next chapter will be the first in a series of (dun, dun duuuh!)** In a deep, echoing, ominous voice**(_The Education of the Vampire!_ **

**(I remember someone saying that during the introduction of the Interview With the Vampire movie, and I just love how it sounds—go Anne Rice! **

**And the newly discovered (to me, anyways) Charlaine Harris, for her Southern Vampire Novels (which I have just discovered the TV show True Blood is based off of! I've heard of True Blood, (and some have mistaken this fic for a twilight/true blood crossover, because of it's title) but I've never actually _seen _it, and now that I've read the first two books (Dead until Dark, and Living Dead in Dallas) I'm eager to see the show, though (from the DVDs I've seen on Amazon, I'd take an educated guess (note the sarcasm) and say that it's past the third season.**

**Oh yes, I'd like to thank my friend (who I shall not name, for privacy's sake) from our school's writing club for letting me borrow you're books, and I hope you're enjoying Thirst No. 1 by Christopher Pike! (Includes: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, and Red Dice)**

***(As far as I am aware, the government does not have a database thingy like this—I'm just your average-ish teenage girl who writes for fun, and the only contact I've had with anything secrety governmenty, is in books, and the awesome TV show CHUCK! So yeah, don't think I'm a spy or something giving away valuable government secrets or anything…lol _wow _I sound paranoid…)**

**Password: INKLINGS!**


	15. Education: Part One

**True Vamp Chapter 15: Education (Part One)**

**Chapter song:**** "On The Wing" by Owl City**

**Chapter quote:**

"**But…" the boy started.**

"**Yes?" said the vampire. "I'm afraid I don't allow you to ask enough questions."**

"**I was going to ask, rosaries have crosses on them, don't they?"**

**"Oh, the rumor about crosses!" the vampire laughed. "You refer to our being afraid of crosses?"**

"**Unable to look on them, I thought," said the boy.**

"**Nonsense, my friend, sheer nonsense. I can look on anything I like. And I rather like looking on crucifixes in particular."**

—**Louie to Daniel**

**Hey, does anyone here know the name of the song that played near the end of the Torchwood episode "They Keep Killing Suzie"? And another song that I love, after only hearing it once: Shine A Light, by Mcfly. I LOVED it, when I heard it on BBC radio.**

**Oh yeah! I'VE STARTED ANOTHER STORY! (I know, I have a very bad habit of making more and more new stories while I'm not finished the ones I already have but…) I am proud to announce my first Non-twilight related story, and it is for one of the awesomest and longest-running (besides maybe Star Trek) sci-fi TV shows in the world: DOCTOR WHO!**

**Basically, it's what I think would have happened if at the beginning of Journey's End, the 10th Doctor had regenerated into the 11th; the early death of the 10th, and the early 'birth' (for lack of a better word) of the 11th Doctor causing a chain of events that none could have foreseen…even Dalek Kahn, or the Bad Wolf.**

**So, for those of you who have absolutely no idea what Doctor Who is, or what it's about: If you've got cable, find the channel BBC America (or whatever the equivalent of where you live, if they have it) and everyday at 5:00pm EST, a Doctor Who episode is on, almost always, though right now (11-30-10) the episodes are a little mixed up. And even if you start watching now, and have no idea whatsoever what is happening, I promise you: you will fall in love with this show! And, starting sometime in 2011 (they really need to tell us when, I'm dying of anticipation!) the new season starts! AND Christmas day, there's a Christmas special of Doctor Who!**

**Oh yeah, say in your review if you can find the title of a Dean Koontz novel in this chap!**

**

* * *

**

**One week later: Sept 21****st**

**(Bella PoV)**

It has been a week since my immortal life began on September 14th, and though all my memories of Edward and his family have been enhanced and engraved in my mind since my first taste of blood, I have not fallen into the black depression my mind wanted me to; no, Ash would not let me.

That first night I drank blood, after my breakdown, Ash took my hand and together we had flown into the starry sky, flying to the east, because it was still early in the night, and we had plenty of time before the sun rose.

Before the night was finished, we had traveled halfway across the country, staying up near the Canadian border, away from the Quiluete wolves and the memories that haunted me. Again, like the night before, we found an old overgrown graveyard, and slept in one of the ancient crypts that time had forgotten.

The next evening, we found out where we were: somewhere in Minnesota. Ash brought up an important problem: where were we headed? For the past couple of years, he had been merely wandering the Americas, looking for nothing in particular, just re-exploring places he had been hundreds of years ago, while marveling at the advances humans had made here in his absence.

It was an interesting question: where did I want to go? The farthest distance I had ever traveled was between Forks and Phoenix. I wanted to travel the world, I knew, see things I had never imagined I ever would or could.

"I don't know, it's just so overwhelming…I can go _anywhere_," I had whispered in wonder.

"All of time and space…where do you want to go first?" Ash had asked, chuckling, and I had laughed, recognizing it from a sci-fi show Renee had watched all the time.

And then, when I had decided where I wanted to go, we had first stopped in the woods so that I could hunt (a large bear), and so that Ash could teach me better hunting methods, like how to feed without causing pain to the victim; something I was still trying to master. We did that for a couple of days, during which I slowly became more silent, and quicker, in my attacks.

It was on the fourth day, (or rather, night) near sunrise that I finally realized that I still had my wallet in my pants pocket; a habit I had picked up one day at school when I found some girl going through my purse after gym.

It took me only a couple of seconds to count all the money, and I remembered that I had planned on going grocery shopping after school, the day _he _left. After finally noticing that my clothes were scuffed and more than slightly bloodstained, I knew I had to get new clothes. The next night, just after sunset, we went to a cheap, late-hour clothes/shoes store, run by a kind old man.

That was where we were now.

The old man, whose nametag proclaimed was George, was walking slowly down the tiny aisles, with Ash following closely behind, examining all the articles of clothing closely over his shoulder.

Even before my transformation, I had noticed that Ash's clothes were more than a little worse-for-wear, but now that my vision was enhanced, I could see numerous small cuts and tears in the material of his brown jacket, the hem of which was stained with mud and old, flaking blood. I was glad that George couldn't see the latter; (he needed to get glasses) and in fact, I doubt any human would have been able to tell the difference between it, and the mud.

"Aha! This, I think you might like, judging from what you're wearing right now," George suddenly said, and I looked up fast, to see him holding up a long, old-fashioned cape-like jacket for Ash to inspect. It was deep black, thick, with a high collar, and went down to almost Ash's ankles when George gestured for him to try it on.

Smiling at the man while keeping his fangs hidden, he shrugged off his old worn, threadbare jacket, and while keeping his back to me, so that George would not see the wings that were folded impossibly tight against his back, through the slits of his dark grey shirt. He put on the cape-like jacket.

Immediately, I could see the difference. Ash looked more…I don't know, _natural_ in the old-fashioned clothing. He seemed taller, more confident. From his thoughts I could tell he felt more comfortable in the long cloak. _This reminds me of the good old days…_he thought, and I felt a sweep of nostalgia, and then a quick flash of despaired agony before he concealed his thoughts and emotions from me.

_How was he _doing_ that?_

"How much?" Ash asked, and George smiled, and named the price.

Ten minutes later, I sighed. _Well_,_ at least I planned on a big shopping trip,_ I thought as I handed over the money to pay, after I had selected some cloths for Ash and me: a pair of black jeans, a black stretchy tee-shirt, some dark grey sneakers, and a black and red backpack, along with some extra sets of large, unisex shirts, and a couple of pairs of durable dark-colored denim jeans.

Notice all the dark and black cloths? Obviously, it is much easier to move around at night when you blend in with the darkness you inhabit perpetually.

The little bell above the door rang as we walked out, with me pushing our new clothes into the backpack as neat as possible, while I glanced over my shoulder at the owner of the store. We made sure that George was looking away from the windows before Ash wrapped his arms around me in the shadows of the alleyway, before he unfolded his wings and flew into the air, to a small forested area, where an abandoned hunting cabin sat in derelict.

Ash lifted one of the windows with no apparent effort, even though I could hear the moisture-swollen wood creaking in protest, and I quickly climbed inside, with Ash following behind. After handing him his new clothes, I quickly located the cabin's spare bedroom, and I shut the door to change behind, while Ash did the same in another room. Even though we could hear each other's every move, we could (_thank god_!) not see what each other was doing through our minds, unless we wanted to.

Swiftly, I shrugged off my old blue jacket, (the one I had worn to my disaster of a birthday party), and threw it towards the wall so that it landed on a coat hook. I stripped off my shirt and sweat pants and moved to stand with my back against the door. Though I didn't think Ash would try to look, I realized I still didn't know him very well, and the paranoia of living with just my father for a year kept me cautious. There had been a close call when I first moved in, where Charlie had nearly walked in when I had gotten out of the shower. He didn't see anything, but after that I locked the door, and he made a point of knocking loudly.

Once I had rechecked the sizes on the tags of the shirt and pants, I slowly looked them over before putting them on. The jeans fit perfectly, although they were a little tight on my waist. The shirt was long and stretchy, and when I put it on, it hugged the shape of my waist, instead of just hanging straight down like most of the shirts I used to wear.

Looking up from the sneakers that I had just double-knotted, I spotted a mirror leaning against the wall on an old wooden desk in one of the corners. Grabbing my new black jacket out from my pack, I slowly approached the mirror, wondering if I would be able to see my reflection. For the past couple of days, the only reflective surfaces we had passed had been bodies of water, but we never stopped too near to them.

To my odd surprise, I could see myself just fine. Since I had already hunted, my skin was flushed with blood, a healthy, lightly tanned color. My eyes were the same as they had been seven days ago: the blackest of blacks, with tiny, little iridescent flecks of color around the iris; the flecks shone dimly by the light of the moon, which was full tonight. My dark eyebrows made my face look very serious.

My hair was still a surprise: I had always grown up with my brown hair hanging maybe halfway down my back, but my new black hair, which had grown to waist-length in the space of a few minutes, was the deepest of blacks I had ever seen in someone's hair, and it grew very fast. Already it was halfway down to my knees, and I wondered if it would ever stop growing. Could I cut it? Or would it grow back really fast, or stay that same length for eternity?

A sudden _knock-knock_ on the door almost made me jump, but I had been listening sub-consciously to Ash's thoughts, and I called to him, "Come in!" without turning around, still examining my hair.

In the mirror, I saw the door open, and heard Ash's breathing, and his footsteps slowly crossing the floor, but I saw no one in the mirror. I felt a weight settle on the floor behind me, but still, I did not see anyone. Frowning, I turned around and almost screamed.

Ash was standing right behind me.

"Sorry, sorry, I should have warned you—" Ash said at the same time that I shouted, "How the heck are you _doing_ that?"

After a couple of seconds of silence, we both burst out laughing simultaneously. When we had both more-or-less calmed down a little after our random bout of laughter, I looked back up at his face and ask him, "What would happen if I cut my hair?"

He looked like he was going to laugh again, so I smacked his shoulder, while containing my own mirth that wanted to escape. "I'm being serious! My hair was already super-long to begin with after my change or turning or whatever, and now it's growing faster than any normal persons'!" I said loudly, grabbing my hair at the back of my neck in one hand, I swung it over my shoulder so he could see how long it was.

"Well, no matter what, your hair, like mine, is going to grow abnormally fast, but if you cut it shorter, it'll stay about that length for a couple of nights, and then you'll have to cut it again." he said, and here he pointed a pair of hair-dresser's scissors from the nightstand the mirror was on, and gestured for me to sit. "May I?" he asked.

Eyes wide, I looked from the scissors to his face, and back again, nervous. Suddenly having really long hair didn't seem like a problem anymore.

"Oh come on, it's not like I've never cut hair before." he said smiling, and after a quick, apprehensive look in the mirror, I grabbed the metal fold-up chair from the corner and sat down, fluffing my hair out over the chair's back. **(Holy crap, I just finished watching **_**Sweeny Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street**_**, and now I imagine he's either gonna break into song, or cut her throat with a razor…*shivers* **_**freaky**_**!) **

From the corner of my eye, I watched in the mirror, as he picked the scissors up, they disappeared from the reflective glass. Eyes wide, I whipped my head around, and luckily, Ash, with his vampire reflexes, moved the scissors away from my neck so my throat wouldn't be slit.

"How are you doing that? I can't see you or the scissors in the mirror!" I exclaimed in awe and frustration.

Ash's face was amused and slightly discomfited. "Haven't I told you this already? No? Hmm. Well, I must be getting old…" He said, before laughing quietly.

"Ok, this is kind of complicated to explain…" He paused, and I nodded to show I was listening carefully. "Ok, you know how…when things are moving very quickly, you can still see the object, as if it were standing still, if it's moving fast enough?" He asked, his sentence faltering, as he thought how to best put it. After a second of confused thought, I nodded.

"And you know how mirrors distort images? You know, flip the image around, make things look nearer than they are, 'objects in mirror are closer than they appear'?" he asked, and again I nodded, not knowing where this was going.

"Yes, well, this is one of the things unique to our kind. You see, feel my hand," He said, and, still confused, I extended my hands towards his, and very gently, I traced my fingertips across his palm, barely touching. "There, you feel that?" And I did; I had noticed it before, but I had assumed I was imagining it, or that it was because of the wind or something. "It starts after you've drinken human blood, like a lot of things."

Ash's hand was vibrating so fast, at such a high frequency that it was barely noticeable. My brain was working quickly, solving the problem at the speed of light…finding the answer…it was on the tip of my tongue…_OH!_

I felt my jaw hang open for a second, before I snapped it shut, so I wouldn't look like an idiot. I could feel shock wash through my mind.

"So, what you're saying is, after I've had human blood, my body will vibrate so fast, that it looks like I'm not, but in a mirror, the image gets distorted just enough that we become invisible? And when you pick something up, it starts to vibrate while you're holding it, and it becomes invisible in the mirror too?" I said slowly, quietly.

"Yes, exactly that. You figured that out faster than I did; then again, you're more educated than I was, and I'm here to teach you." he said.

I stared at him. "teach me."

"What would you like to know?"

"I want to know everything."

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AN:

**Ok people! This is the first in a multi-part series of chapters in the EDUCATION on the vampire. (I love saying that!) next chap: **

**the continuation of the dramatics that are happening halfway across the country from Bella and Ash: The struggle of the Cullen's to find Bella's whereabouts and determine whether she is alive, or dead.**

**The Conflicts evolving in the locale tribe: how will the Elder's cope with the fact that history is repeating? Will they reveal to the Pack the secret knowledge passed on since the time of Taha Aki, about the Black Opal wolf: The Bane of the Tribe?**

**And in Fork's High School, a seemingly ordinary girl discovered she is a part of the Surpernatural, and that she is destined for much more, **_**and no, she is not a witch!**_

_**I WANT AT LEAST 15+ REVIEWS!**_

**Oh yeah, i'm curious: how many of my readers out there are guys? c'mon, don't be shy! i want to know it's not just girls reading this, and what you _guys_ like about my story!**


	16. Rebellion: Part Three

True Vamp Chapter 16: the Rebellion Part Three

**Chapter Quote****:**

"**One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions"—Oliver Wendall Holmes, 1841-1935**

**Chapter song: "Once In Every Lifetime" from the Eragon Soundtrack **

_**(Wow, they ruined the Eragon movie soooooo much…it's not even funny! And they can't even properly make the other books into movies now, because they killed the Razac in the movie, and a whole bunch of crap that just messed it up, like it's a stand-alone, one-shot deal. They probably made it that way so people who didn't read the books would still like it…just another random fantasy film out there…)**_

**12/10/10: holy crap. ****We just got home from school, after a nearly three-hour bus delay! We get out of school at 2:30, and just got home at 5:52.**

**Oh yeah, the disgusting school bathroom thing mentioned in this chap by Jessica **_**actually happened**_** just last week at our school. Multiple times apparently. It makes you wonder what kind of serious issues the people you see everyday have…*shudders***

**This chap has some rather…disturbing/gross things in it…they're probably not as bad as they seem, seeing as I'm the one writing it, one thoughts at a time, but still. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

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**(Angela PoV****)**

I sighed as I looked at the date on my agenda, and glanced back up to the board as I wrote in my calculus homework. It was September 21st. It had been a week since Bella disappeared. I also had an American Sign Language project due today. I shook my head at the stray thought. When the bell rang, I quickly gathered my binders, stacking them on top of each other before hurrying out to door to my next class.

Luckily, Ben was in this class, though he was on the other side of the room, and unfortunately I had to sit with Lauren and Jessica, two of the most gossip-orientated girls that I knew.

"Did you hear what someone did in the girl's bathroom?" Jessica demanded before I was even in my seat. "No…" I said, and looked at her for a second, "and from the way you sound, I'm not too sure I want to." I told her as I sat down, before placing my binder from my previous class in the desk and taking my pencil out of my pencil pouch again.

As Jessica launched into a detailed description of how she and her friend had gone into one of the bathrooms and they had noticed that it smelled really badly, I held the book I was supposed to be reading for this class (English) in my hand loosely, waiting for her to stop talking so I could get some reading done before class started. Unlike most school-issue books, this one I really liked, and I intended to buy it from _Borders_ the first chance I got.

"…And when she opened the stall, there was _poop on the door!" _she exclaimed in disgust loudly and I jerked out of my daydream. _Huh?_

"What?" I asked incredulously, staring at her in shock, not sure I'd heard her right.

"I know! Someone actually _somehow_ got this disgusting idea of writing in _poop_ on one of the bathroom stalls! I don't remember what it said, because, well, you're not going to be paying much attention to what it says, are you? And Sarah and me just ran right out of there screaming, until we found a teacher. Apparently, the door said '87', whatever that is." She concluded, just as the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

As the English teacher walked in, the class continued to talk, barely noticing her entrance. Jessica continued talking to me while Lauren leered at a boy who sat diagonally a few desks away from her.

The teacher set her papers on the projector and walked up to the board, writing the warm-up questions on the book we were reading:

What happened after the boxes opened when Sanzac fell?

_What do you think Sanzac has become?_

_How do you think the Batulan Clan will react?_

_What do you think the stone angel is, and why is it important?_

I nodded to show I heard her, though I was a little sickened at the thought of what some girl had done on a stall—and purposefully! _Though I don't see how you can do that accidentally…_

Pulling out my notebook, I opened to a new page and wrote down the questions, along with the answers, and was done before Jessica and Lauren had even started on it.

"Ok class, I'll give you five minutes to finish the warm-up, and then we'll go over it." The teacher said, and she walked back to her desk. Rolling my eyes, I opened my book to my bookmark and started reading.

"_During the ritual, the hosting tribe would bring forward their Clan's Spirit Animal—caught and kept alive, a fortnight before the gathering—and the soul of the animal was extracted through the removal of it's brain still-beating heart; it's life sustained by all the powerful mages gathered, who cast their magic on the animal before the rite..."_

A couple of minutes later, after we had gone over the warm-up and were reading independently while taking Active Reading Notes, just as I was getting to the interesting bit, the bell rang. _Time for Lunch,_ I thought as I quickly got up and grabbed my calculus binder, before hurrying towards the door as the scraping of chairs and loud voices announced kids from the other classrooms standing.

Going to my locker, I swiveled in the combination and shoved my unneeded binder in before shutting it and turning the lock back to zero. When I stood up, Ben was there, and I smiled before taking his hand in mine as we walked to lunch together. We didn't talk much—I wasn't much of the talkative type; I liked it to be quiet; peaceful, and except for when Mike or Tyler was around, Ben was quiet, like me.

Walking into the cafeteria was like walking into a war zone, the noise was so loud. Glancing at our table, I saw Jessica and Lauren were there already, along with Mike.

And then I looked at _their _table. Empty, still. No one wanted to sit there, oddly enough. It was like there was something that kept them away: some instinct or other. As we passed it on the way to the lunch line, I felt a strange coldness sweep over me. Goosebumps erupted on my arms and I could feel the hair on my head standing on end, and I suppressed a shiver.

"Hey Ange, you ok?" Ben asked in concern, noticing my discomfort. "Y-yeah, I'm just feeling a little sick," I said truthfully, my head was starting to hurt, and I felt dizzy. "I think I'm going to skip lunch today," I told him and turned to go back to our table, leaving Ben looking after me. Halfway back to the table, when sudden pains in my stomach made me double over and gag. A couple of people turned to look at me as more and more little knives of pain lanced through my stomach and skull.

Then my hands started feeling weird; like they were growing bigger, saliva pooled in my mouth. I knew with horrible certainty that I was going to throw up.

Clapping my hand over my mouth, I ran towards the door, and when I passed the Cullen's old table, the sick feeling intensified and I felt like I was going to vomit right then and there.

Sprinting through the halls I ran into the nearest bathroom and bolted the door shut before turning to the toilet and gagging violently. I stayed there for a couple of minutes, but when nothing came up and I still felt sick, I moaned and leaned my clammy forehead against my hands.

_What's happening to me?_

**AN:(no sarcasm intended)**

**thanks to a certain anonmous review signed Erica, i have decided to update early. why? because i already feel bad for all the ANs i have up, and because, well, (this is going to sound like i'm mentaly challenged) i actualy _loved_ her/your review! i love it that you like this story enough to rant about it when you've had a false alarm! _see? i am crazy._**

**anyways, the reason this chap is so short, it because i was only halfway done when i saw the review and decided to update early! oh yeah; i've figured out how my vampires came about! and if anyone here could recomend a good educational book about _VAMPIRE BATS,_ i would greatly appreciate it.**

**WOOOOT! we've passed the 161 review milestone! anyone who takes a guess about whats happening to angela gets some French-vanella cake with chocolate icing!**

**ANOTHER THING: anyone here got some fic's they want me to read? i'm trying to find some other original vamp twilight fics, but so far...i've just been laughing. i know; i'm evil. recently i've taken to seaching '_New Moon vampire, 100 years'_ in the search tab, and then i read all the fics where bella's been a vampire for 100 years, and everythings the same. it's quite fun actualy, though i know i'm being mean-don't worry, i dont flame anything-and besides, i should let my bad side out sometimes. in real life, the only people i'm purposfuly rude to are my brothers, but never, even if i _hate_ them, do i usualy say anything bad to a person. _like a certain person who acts just like Lauren, from my English class..._**

**Erica: you get christmas cookies and candy canes for being very exuberent(is that the right word?) in your review!**

**dont worry, i'm going to continue writing the second this is updated! sorry for the shortness.**

**REVIEW! and VOTE if you havent yet!**


	17. Rebellion: Part Four

**True Vamp chapter 17: The Rebellion, Part Four**

**Chap Song****: Animal I Have Become****, by **_**Three Days Grace.**_

**Previously: **

_Clapping my hand over my mouth, I ran towards the door, and when I passed the Cullen's old table, the sick feeling intensified and I felt like I was going to vomit right then and there._

_Sprinting through the halls I ran into the nearest bathroom and bolted the door shut before turning to the toilet and gagging violently. I stayed there for a couple of minutes, but when nothing came up and I still felt sick, I moaned and leaned my clammy forehead against my hands._

_What's happening to me?_

**AN: Challenge! Anyone who can find the Interconnection **_**(something that connects this story with one of my others)**_** in Chapter 12: Blood, gets Christmas cookies and the satisfaction of knowing they were right!**

**I'll give you a hint: '**_**A Tragic Past'**_

**(Angela PoV)**

Dimly, I heard the lunch bell toll and the movement of lots of people walking past. Laughter sounded in the hall, and I envied the girl who wasn't so sick she couldn't even consider laughing, much less smile.

Slowly, I fumbled with the lock, and finally slid the bolt out with a sharp _clack!_ Stumbling, I staggered out the door; thankfully, the flow of students had lessened, I walked as fast as I could to the nurse's office, using the wall as a support. Halfway there, I saw a bunch of 8th graders from Fork's Middle School gathered around the nurses' office: probably touring the school.

No matter how sick I was; I was _not_ going to stagger into the nurse's office with a bunch of kids around me. What if I threw up? Before I was even out of the hallway? Aside from embarrassment on my part, that would be just gross, and I wouldn't want to scare them about coming to high school anymore than they already were.

So I ducked down another hallway, and seeing the door that led to the outdoor gym area, I hurried, thanking whatever power there was that all the teachers were watching the bathrooms, on the lookout for the 'poopinator' as Lauren had named the 87 girl (or guy).

The second I stepped outside, a blast of cold air hit me and I shivered, wishing I had my coat. Walking slowly, hugging my arms to my chest in a vain attempt at warmth, I circled around to the parking lot, looking for my car.

Spotting it at the edge of the lot, closest to the woods. I started walking unsteadily towards it, not sure what I intended on doing once I got to it. Though I was able to walk much more steadily, I still felt very sick, like I was going to throw up still.

Just as I reached my car, two things happened simultaneously: It started to rain, and I had a _huge_ muscle spasm in both my legs. I hit the ground hard and the breath whooshed out of me in a gasp.

My head slammed onto the hard asphalt with a loud crack that reverberated in my skull, and then everything went black.

**(Leah PoV)**

_"Leah?"_ Dad shouted incredulously when he spotted me, and immediately his expression turned panicked. "Go back! He shouted, eyes flashing, "Go _home_!" but I ignored him. The other Elders were still running—if running was what you could call what the oldest ones were doing—and I hurried to catch up. I had heard one of them mention Sam—and Jacob—being in a fight, and I had panicked.

Running quickly, I had followed the elders as they ran to the forest, none of them had noticed me then, but I had noticed what they carried: Blake held a loaded gun clutched in his hands. Gregory carried a coil of hand-spun rope in one hand, and a roll of duck tape in the other. The duck tape was colored bright, neon pink; still in the plastic.

Obviously, it had been grabbed in a hurry; and it would have been comical if I didn't have a sneaking suspicion of what they were going to use it for.

"Go _HOME!"_ Dad shouted one last time, just before a massive animal the size of a tall horse burst out of the tree line; it's snarling howls loud and full of rage. The animal was, impossibly, a giant black wolf; the deepest shade of black imaginable, and in the seconds that I had a clear view of it, I saw that it's fur, when the sun shined on it, reflected little rainbow prisms of light.

The wolf flew past us; it's momentum sending it crashing to the ground. It was then I noticed the russet-red skinned naked man that was on the wolf's back, his hands tangled in the fur: Sam Uley.

_What the hell?_

Suddenly, the wolf looked at me, and our eyes met.

Black pupils surrounded by white, surrounded by even darker fur.

I knew those eyes; I would recognize them anywhere.

Time slowed down; was frozen. Everything was still, and all I could see were the eyes that I knew, impossibly, belonged to Jacob Black. Everything seemed to disappear; all I saw were the familiar black eyes that seemed to draw me in—a sudden shout, and then: _BANG!_

I screamed just asSam leaped off of the Jacob-wolf's back, a second before the wolf stumbled and lurched forward with a yelp of pain. Jacob collapsed to the ground and stayed down; his huge form still except for his ragged breathing.

"NO!" I screamed as I raced forward, effortlessly shoving aside the hands that tried to restrain me. Dad tried to grab me, but I ducked under his arms and ran as fast as I could to Jake's side.

Sam looked up in shock as I came sprinting forward, and he began to shake violently as I knelt down beside Jake, a look of fear and apprehension in his eyes. I ignored him, and ran my hands through Jake's fur, feeling for a wound.

Instead, I found a small, feathered dart imbedded in his neck, which I immediately but gently, pulled out, breathing a sigh of relief when it came out smoothly, with hardly any blood. A sudden, slightly cold hand on my shoulder made me jump and whirl around, to see Sam standing behind me, with a look of shock on his face as he stared at his hand.

I kept my eyes focused steadily on his face, wondering at the back of my mind _why he was naked,_ but at the forefront of my mind was rage. I felt myself shaking slightly, and I could see the rest of the elders gathering around behind Sam.

"Leah?" one of them called out cautiously, and I felt my hands tighten into fists at my sides. No matter how strange this situation was, I just couldn't understand why they would hurt Jacob—and how he was a giant wolf. Apparently, the old legends were true. For some reason, this didn't surprise me.

I saw Dad run around the back of the group towards Sam and me. In his hand he held a pair of black shorts, which he tossed to Sam when he reached us. Sam immediately pulled them on, but I was glaring at Dad now, and Blake, who had followed my father, still holding the tranquilizer gun in his hands. Blake had unloaded the gun, it seemed, because he held a couple of the darts in his russet-red hand, before slipping them into a decorated pouch at his waist.

Somehow this little casual act set me off.

My lips curled back to my teeth and I growled at him—not a weak human growl, but a full-throated animalistic snarl. He immediately backed up, looking shocked; dad took a step back, a look of shock and fear on his face.

I took a step forward, and when Sam, looking as shocked as the rest, put his hands out to grab my shoulders, I twisted in a move so quick that he barely had time to blink before he was on his back, on the ground with a gasp of pained shock.

Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I watched as two more massive wolves—a grey one, and a chocolate brown one—burst out of the trees, and the elders all jumped, before relaxing again. I whirled around to face them as they came charging to Jacob, Sam, Dad, Blake and I.

Snarling, I jumped so that I was crouched in front of the unconscious Jacob protectively, shaking even more violently as I felt even more rage building up in me when I noticed that some of Jake's fur had dried blood on it, like the other wolves'. They had attacked him. Like the Elders had.

"_Why?"_ I snarled, when the wolves had skidded to a stop. I knew they could understand me, and that the Elders could hear my voice. When no one answered, I twisted around to glare at them balefully.

_"WHY?"_ I shouted, advancing on them as the tremors that were shaking my body grew in their violence, so that my vision had started to blur. I could feel a sort of tingling at the back of my mind, but I paid it not mind as I snarled, stalking toward the nearest Elder—Gregory, who still held the duck tape and rope. Before he could move back even a step, I was in front of him, a handful of his shirt in my fist as I yanked him forward, so that we were face to face.

"_Why do you have those, Gregory?"_ I asked in a quiet, deadly calm voice as the others rushed forward in slow motion, "_What were you going to do to Jake with them?"_

And then I snapped.

The shaking reached its peak and I gasped in pain as cramps seized my body and I fell, spasming, to the ground with a high cry of pain. Gregory jumped back as Dad reached me, leaning down, a look of panic and confusion in his eyes. "Leah!" he shouted, and to the others, "_Help! Call an ambulance, I think she's having a seizure_—"

But his voice was cut off when he saw my expression. Blake and Sam pulled him and Gregory back just in time.

I felt it when I exploded; it was as if, for a single second, I didn't exist—and then I did again, but I was much bigger, taking up more space. And there I was, on my side, on the ground, a huge wolf.

Now, I'd already accepted the fact that the legends were true, and I had never expected _me_ to be one, because the legends said that only guys changed, but I was still freaked out.

My fur was exactly like Jacob's: pitch black, like onyx, and shiny, reflecting a bunch of rainbow colors, like an opal.

Suddenly two voices sounded, loud and clear in my mind: Jared, and Paul. A second later, Sam's voice joined in, after I heard an odd, soundless shimmer, and I turned, to see Sam as a giant black wolf standing close to me. Oddly enough, I was taller that all of them—including Sam, who was the tallest of the three. I stalked towards him, head low to the ground as I snarled my rage at him, and I felt that odd tingling sensation in the back of my mind as I leapt for Sam's throat.

Around us the Elders were freaking out.

Blake was stumbling back; trying to load the darts back into his gun while staring in horrified fascination at me as I fought with Sam, Paul and Jared. Out of nowhere, it seemed, Jacob, still groggy from the dart, was beside me and I felt an overwhelming relief that he was ok.

Meanwhile, Sam was shouting ineffectively at me in his mind for us to stop.

I saw Dad standing stock-still, his lined face frozen in horrified shock as he watched me, one hand clutched over his heart, which I could hear pounding in his chest.

_Freaky…_

_Leah!_

_What?_

_Stop!_

_Why?_

_You're scaring the elders! Blake's gonna shoot again, and I would rather _not_ be shot again with those stupid darts!_

_Ugh fine! And why did they shoot you in the first place?_ I thought as I leaped away from Sam and the other two to land beside Jake, who stood a couple of yards away. He was more or less calm, but his fur was sticking up along his back, and he was glaring at Sam, Jared, and Paul, whose thoughts we were ignoring, but were still on the alert for an attack.

Once I had stopped attacking them, they moved slowly backwards, watching us wearily, as were the Elders, except Blake, who was still fumbling on the ground with the darts, which it seemed he had dropped in his haste to load them.

Then I saw that my father was beside him and glaring, one hand still raised, and I realized he had knocked them from his hand so Blake could not shoot us. Billy Black, Jake's dad, was beside Blake too, having struggled with his wheelchair through the tall grass without assistance, and was staring at Jake and me in shock.

There seemed to be a lot of that going around today.

—**(Lol, I was just re-reading chapter 3 of Birth by Sleep, and I just realized a few things: **_**One**_**: my Birth By Sleep [BBS] Jasper is pretty funny and sarcastic in his thoughts, **_**Two**_**: (if I do say so myself) I'm pretty good at writing him, **_**Three**_**: BBS was really fun to write, and I'm going to start writing it again, ASAP. **_**Four:**_** well, I just forgot what else I was going to say, so… on with the story!**

**(Jasper PoV)—New Orleans, directly after the (lol) "Lestat Incident"**

I smiled as Alice and I raced away from the crowd of crazed fans. We held hands when we leaped the trivial gap between two of the buildings, laughing as we sailed through open space; for a second, I closed my eyes and imagined that I was flying, with the wind flowing through my hair.

But then we landed again, and we again ran the short distance across the roof and jumped again, and again and again, in a cycle of leaps and runs. Everytime my feet left the ground, I held Alice's hand tighter, and let my elation flow through my mind to her. She smiled and her hand snaked farther up my arm so that it rested on my shoulder. I did the same, and when next we jumped, Alice flung out her right arm, and I my left, and as one we focused on each other's feeling of weightlessness, and together we flew as one being.

It was the moments like this that made me thank the stars above for bringing me to Alice, and for giving me my rarely appreciated ability. Most days, I was surrounded by so many emotions that I could hardly tell what _I_ was feeling.

When we were out in public as the worst: I would feel all of my family's emotions of thirst, contempt, pity, amusement, worry, jealousy and whatever else they felt around humans. All their combined thirst made it even harder for my already tenuous control, and there were far more close calls if one of them hadn't hunted in a while, even if _I_ had hunted the night before, than if I hadn't hunted for awhile and I was alone.

No one but Alice or Edward knew this, and of the two, Alice cared the most.

It hurt, the feelings I sometimes got from my 'siblings'. Of course, these feelings were subconscious; most of the time they weren't even aware that they had these feelings: the feelings of anger, suspicion, that I didn't belong. Sometimes, these unconscious feelings were directed to Alice, if she sometimes had a vision or acted in a way they wouldn't expect. And of course, Carlisle and Emse rarely, if ever, had these feelings; but when we had first come, Carlisle had worried; mainly, about me.

I could still remember they day we arrived:

_It was night: our favorite time to travel. Alice had been seeing visions, of a family we would join; a family who could teach us other ways of hunting without taking innocent lives._

_She had told me that she had been having these visions ever since she was turned, along with the ones about me— and the weather of course. It was a very useful thing, her ability. She could tell the almost exact moment we would have to duck into a shady place during the day to escape the sun's rays, and consequently, the human's suspicion. But that was not the only reason I loved her; I would have loved her with or without her ability. She was beautiful, graceful, and kind. She knew how to lift me out of my black moods, and when to talk and when to leave me to my silence. It was like she was the empath, instead of me._

_We had been together for almost fifteen years when we finally caught up with them in 1921; I had been in the Newborn Wars since the end of the Civil War, in 1865, and had fought for nearly 30 years, before I escaped sometime after Peter and Charlotte left. For twenty-six years I had wandered, sometimes alone, sometimes with Peter and charlotte, but their company was no help to me._

_For twenty six years I wandered and hungered, but unable to hunt for the emotions of pain and terror and hatred I would feel from my victims; I felt all their pain, all their sorrow, felt all their life drain away as I drank; and it killed me inside. So for weeks and weeks I would resist killing, but the thirst got worse and eventually I snapped, but the blood no release of my torment: it only intensified it._

_It was pouring rain when I entered the diner she was in; with my hair plastered to my face, I had spotted her with my thirst-blackened eyes; luckily, this diner was a cheap one, and there were few humans in the room, and of them, most of their blood was tainted by the smell of alcohol._

_She was a tiny thing, like she is now, but she had commanded my attention immediately by the emotions she emitted: expectation, impatience, excitement, and underneath it all, a commanding spirit, confident, yet fearful._

_'Jasper Whitlock, do you have any idea how long you've made me wait?' she demanded indignantly, and immediately I felt abashed; I had left with beautiful creature waiting, an improper and un-honorable thing to do, for a man of my upbringing._

_'I am sorry Ma'am, I truly did not mean to make you wait; but I did not know you required my presence," I had said in the formal speech of years ago, embarrassed but wary. __Who was this vampire? Does she know Maria? __I had thought. _

_She smiled, 'Do not worry, Jasper Whitlock' (she grew more excited every time my name passed her lips) 'My name is Alice, and I have been waiting for a very long time to meet you, I have watched you wander, and I knew you as none else do. Though I have never met you until now, I know that we will be together, and I know a place where we can be safe, and we won't have to hurt anyone, not anymore.' She had said in a rush, her crimson-rimmed black eyes sparkling with light, I felt the love she felt for me; an emotion I had never expected to feel._

_'Who would help us?' I had demanded, as politely as possible, 'who would help __me?__ After all the things I have done?' I had whispered the last part, my voice stricken, the memories of all the killing I had seen and done overwhelming me for a moment. But then Alice was at my side, and the comforting peace emitting from her wrapped around me like a wave, and the pain and sorrow went away._

_For the first time in a long, long time, I was happy._

_When we had found Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie, Edward and Emmett had been out hunting, and Alice had immediately taken over the situation. After hearing our amazing story, Carlisle had agreed to take us in. but still, he worried. The emotions coming from him and the others when they first saw me almost made me turn and run:_

_Terror, fear, worry, amazement, caution, anger, and pity._

_But Alice had stopped me, and once we had explained our abilities, Carlisle had become fascinated, and told us about Edward, his first 'son' who had the ability to read minds. Now _that_ made me nervous. Though on the outside I always appeared calm, in control, and strong, I was a twisted black wreck of raw emotions that showed my true self._

Much like Edward was now.

_One of the more amusing parts of that evening had been when Edward and Emmett had arrived home to the scent of strangers, and the sight of the all contents of Edward's room in the driveway. Edward had been enraged, because well, wouldn't you? But Emmett had found it hilarious, and the chattering mind of Alice had eventually worn him down, and he had agreed (out of sheer irritation and amusement) to let Alice use his room for the clothes she had packed, because our room had been to small._

_Edward had had to use the attic as his room, and Alice and I, though I had not removed any of his items, volunteered to help him put everything back._

Just then, I felt a wave of absolute panic overwhelm me and I gripped Alice's hand tighter as we jumped down to our front door, arranging it so that I would be in front of her to face any threat coming our way.

"Jasper! Alice!" Esme's heartbroken and panicked voice came a second before she had pulled the door open so fast the hinges almost broke, and I looked to see that she held a cellphone clutched in her hand, and that her face was that of a mother who had lost a child. Her emotions were the same.

"Who is it?" I demanded, "What happened?" Alice was panicking; her eyes wide and frenzied.

"It's Bella," Esme whispered, "She's gone missing. She's _been_ missing, since the night we left. The humans found signs of a struggle in the woods, trees knocked down, scraps of her jacket, and her blood!" she started gasping, her chest heaving as she struggled to continue, "Carlisle called, it was on the news. They think that we kidnapped her, and Charlie contacted some detective agency, and found out were where here, and the police searched the hospital's records and found we said we were going to L.A."

She stopped, unable to contain herself, and the black wave of desolation and loss crashed onto me so that I felt nothing else but the agony of despair. Beside me, Alice's eyes had gone blank, and I felt her concentration as she tried to peer into the future.

"I can't—I can't see anything!" she wailed, and behind Esme I saw through a haze of misery Rosalie was racing throughout the house, packing everything, cleaning, and making it look as if no one had lived here for a long while; we would need to leave, immediately.

It was then that the full realization of the situation hit me; or maybe Alice; the emotions were so strong I couldn't tell; perhaps it was Rosalie who realized it. But in the end, what did it matter? I still felt it: the guilt, the horror, the despair; the overwhelming feeling that it was _my fault!_

_So maybe it is my own emotions,_ I thought as I rushed to help Alice stuff everything in our room into boxes, _after all, I __did__ attack her on her birthday, which made Edward think about leaving—but then again, it was Edward who made us leave…_

But then I realized that it didn't matter whose fault it was anymore. The consequences were still the same.

Bella Swan was missing, the only person in the world my brother had ever loved.

And she was probably dead.

**(Dante PoV)**

_The Father of All, known more commonly and casually as Sanzac, sat in his throne, which he had carved in his early years from the granite near his Clan's camp. _

_The throne itself was thousands of years old, as was Sanzac, though you wouldn't be able to tell that just from his face; the face of a ten-year-old boy; the age of a man, back when humans hardly lived to be over 40. No, the only indication of his true age lay in his rainbow-black eyes, the multitude of canine teeth, the paper-white of his skin, and the ancient fashion of his clothes._

_He smiled fondly down at his children: a Gathering of vampires, come to witness the union of an Ancient and his Fledgling. The Gathering was large, with almost 100 vampires in attendance; a large gathering, considering how few of them there were in the world today; a couple thousand, at the most. Scattered across the globe._

_Sanzac could hear all their voices, all except the few who were gone; Those who had died in the sun, or were killed by enemies, or those taken by the Seraphs, never to be heard from again, for the Seraph's mysterious ability to shatter the Collective that connected every vampire's mind made it impossible to even feel the death of a loved one, or hear their last thoughts._

_For a while he drifted in his memories, remembering his tribe, and the first Gathering his clan had hosted, and that moment when the box fell, and opened…the pain, the thirst, and the clarity of sight and sound._

_The worship and the fear; the loyalty and betrayal, the First Flight…Lordaina, Lucifer, Santino, and the others…_

_Then the coming of the Seraphs, the Angels, the bringers of fire and terror; The feeling of one's mind being ripped apart from the others when they neared, their stone wings spread wide—_

_Suddenly he realized, too late, that he was not remembering._

_Looking up, amid the screams of his children, he stood, with little difficulty, for his limbs were starting to stiffen noticeably with age, and he leaped down from his perch to land among his children; their pale faces turned upwards, black eyes glittering in the starlight as they awaited their fate._

_A sudden sweeping whoosh of stone wings, and the Seraphs were upon them._

With a gasp of terror Dante leaped from his chair with a snarl, eyes wide, he turned around and about, convinced he had been staring into the face of a seraph come to kill him. When he saw no threat, he collapsed back into his chair, head in his hands as he struggled to control his breathing. When he had calmed some, he looked at the clock.

Two in the morning.

He sighed, remembering the dream.

"And herein I looked unto the face of Death and there perceived a beautiful Angel" he whispered, closing his eyes to the dark room.

* * *

**as dramatic an ending as you can get. and as far as i am aware, that quote (which i came up with a couple weeks ago, when i was much more than half/fully asleep) is totaly original. creepy huh?**

**Review Passward: _The Guardians_**

**_(and no, not the Guardians of Ga'hoole!) and remember to look for the Interconnection from Chapter 12: Blood._**

**_11 reivews for next update!_**


	18. Education: Part Two

True Vamp Chapter 18: Education Part Two

**WOOHOO! Guess what? True Vamp was one of the winners of the ****Bite Me Awards****, in the ****Most Unique**** Category! I'd like to thank all voters, and congratulate ****Wintermoth, ****for her story,**** Children Of The Moon****, which won in the ****best post-Breaking Dawn**** and my friend, RLD-Flamepoint Callie-co, for ****Resurgence,**** which won ****Best Crossover!**

**Hey peoples! Hope you liked Chap 17, anyone more than a little confused? Anyone thing they know what Jacob and Leah are?**

**Chapter Quote:**_** "The Angels have the phone-box"—**_**Doctor Who, "Blink" the Doctor to Sally Sparrow.**

**(Lol, I'm watching the Doctor Who episode "Blink". Anyone else think Sally Sparrow would be a good companion to the 11****th**** doctor? I mean, c'mon, Amy & Rory are going to leave eventually…huh. It's hard to imagine 11 with someone other than Amy and Rory, unless it's River Song of course.**

**Still on the topic of the 11****th**** doctor and River Song, who here thinks **_**she is **__**sooo**__** his wife?**_** I mean, that's the only logical conclusion for them meeting each other so many times (albeit in the wrong order), and, **_**she knows his NAME!**_

**Unless she kills him of course… **

"_**He said you killed a man. Who was he?"**_

"_**The greatest man I've ever known."—**_**Doctor to River Song, "The Time of Angels; Flesh and Stone."**

**Oh whoa, "Blink" is almost over, and the part where the Tardis is leaving them behind, with the Weeping Angels surrounding them…and plus the statue ending, and the message…combined, they're enough to give you nightmares…or at least make you temporarily paranoid…**

Chapter Song: Hearing Damage, by Thom Yorke, from the New Moon soundtrack.

**(Hm… when did avatar come out in theaters? —oh wait, just checked the date I put on my 3D glasses we got, and **_**we**_** at least saw it Dec. 26****th****, 2009. and we saw it 3 times, in theaters, all in 3D. lol, I would love to have Bella and Ash go see it—maybe in True Vamp I'll have it be in theaters again as a special promotional thing for the second movie? (**_**Yes, you heard me right: it's going to be a trilogy!)**_

So, since I'm pretty sure Avatar 2 comes out in either 2012 or 2014, and Avatar 3 comes out in (I think) 2015, I can really fit that into here. You know, they really need to make avatar a book. I know there's already one, but it's like for first graders. C'mon people! Make us a novel!

**So, after thinking of the **_**Underworld**_** movies for a bit, I thought, '**_**hey! My vamps would look cool with horses too!'**_

**And then I thought about Santa Clause…and about laughed my head off. **

**Especially when I saw the Christmas special **_**Doctor Who: A Christmas Carole**_**. (Haha, only on Doctor Who can they make something so fun, and so **_**sad**_** at the same time…) even if you have **_**no idea**_** what the heck Doctor Who is, go to your TV, and search Doctor Who, and look for the episode 'A Christmas Carole' and then **_**WATCH IT!**_** You will love it!**

**Yeah, some mild humor thrown in in this Chapter, and, No offence to Stephenie Meyer (well…) who, in writing twilight (though they're awesome books that you can't help being addicted to) ripped down and walked all over the old myths in the creation of the Cullen's, **_**my Vampires**_**? They're got the huge task of rebuilding those myths up again, and maybe adding a few of their own.**

**And for those of you, who don't think this'll be hard, go to Wikipedia, and search 'vampire'. I've also gotten on my Kindle* a bunch of old books about vampires and demonologies, including '**_**The Damned' 'Elizabethan Demonology' and 'letters on demonology and witchcraft'**_** among others.**

***(Which I'm pretty sure is glitch-y—it says its memory is full when it can hold up to 3,500 books, and I've probably got only…20? I think, and the charge is supposed to last a month, but it's dead already when I only got it on Christmas!)**

Hmm… now I want to watch that again, haven't seen it for a while…the only problem is they look _too_ blue on the blue-ray, know what I mean? And I'm not sure where the movie is; it might be in our parent's room.

Hm. I'll have to watch that later today. (12/29/10) (12/30/10) nope, didn't watch it, but I'll watch it today. Maybe. If I remember.

**Woops, long AN, didn't really mean for my little note to get so long…so! On with the story!**

**(Bella PoV)**

"Can animals be turned into vampires?" I asked as we walked through the woods, much nearer to the east coast than an hour ago. We had decided to relax a bit and walk some of the way, so that Ash could teach me without having to shout over the roar of the wind.

"Actually, yes: Horses, dogs, cats, you name it. Actually, in battles, some vampire's use horses as mounts, just like humans." He said, leaping over a massive tree that had collapsed in a storm sometime earlier today; I could smell the tang of lightning, rain, and charred wood as I leapt onto the top of the ancient felled giant.

"Why? Aren't we strong enough to not need them?" I asked, jumping down the other side and jogging slightly to catch up with him.

"Yes, but, like a regular human, and a regular horse, the vampire horses are faster and can carry heavier loads then us. Plus, they can fly too, and they drink blood just the same as us, except they drink horse blood, or whatever animal they originally were."

"I thought horses were herbivores?"

"They are."

"So how do they drink blood?"

"They get fangs too."

"Wait, what do they drink from before they drink horse blood?"

"Other animals' blood."

"Of course. So, other than horses, what other animals have people made into vampires?"

"Cats, dogs; other pets they didn't want to give up." He said, and paused, "Lions, tigers, and bears." He said seriously, managing to keep his face straight for about two seconds before he smiled I laughed quietly.

"What about birds?" I asked as we ducked under a low-hanging branch, seeing the tiny owl sitting above, watching us with wide, brown eyes. He nodded, "Now that's an interesting combination," He said, and he stopped walking. I froze behind him, watching to see what he was doing.

Suddenly he leaped into the air, straight up, and when he came back down he held the little owl clasped in his hands. I gasped in shock, thinking he was going to hurt it, but he only smiled and shook his head, beckoning me closer.

Slowly, I stepped forward, so that I was in front of him and staring right into the little owl's wide brown eyes. Its beak was open and it struggled in Ash's pale hands, flapping ineffectively with its wings and kicking and clawing with its talons. Ash winced and rearranged his hands so that the owl was facing him and its sharp talons were away from his wrists.

I shuffled closer and watched his wrist as it healed, shocked. "Your—your blood," I gasped, "Why is it like that?"

The liquid that oozed sluggishly from the deep cut on his wrist was not the color of normal blood. It was black, and iridescent, like the oil you sometimes see in parking lots after it rains, with the puddles shining rainbow colors. It was like our eyes, but I was confused. The blood that had splashed out of my severed shoulder had been red, like regular blood.

"That's just because I've fed from humans," he said, keeping his attention focused on the owl, their eyes locked. Suddenly the owl relaxed, staring into Ash's eyes as it stopped flailing.

"I am an Adolesc, so I don't need to hunt that often, because I have a lot of blood stored up in me from previous hunts that hasn't been converted into pheromones yet."

I was sure I hadn't heard him right.

"Pheromones?" I asked.

"Ah! There we go. She's calmed down now," Ash said, and then he held the owl with one hand and held his arm under it, lowering the small creature down so that all of a sudden, it clamped on to his arm with it's feet—as gently as possible—and it sat there, still staring into his eyes calmly.

He shifted his arm so that we could both see the owl's back. With his other hand, he gently ran his finger along the feathers about an inch or so below her wings.

"Right here," he said, "Once the bird has drinken the blood of whatever species it was originally, it will grow wings like ours, just below the feathered ones. Their body becomes longer, and the talons and beak become very, _very_ sharp—instead of growing fangs. The eyes change to the same rainbow-black as ours, and the feathers become alternately white or black, depending on the species. Their blood, once they have drinken their species' blood, will become like mine, and other non-fledgling vampires."

I leaned forward as he spoke so that I could see where he was pointing, leaning so close that our faces were inches apart. He slowly turned his head when he finished talking, and for an immeasurable time we locked eyes. The night around us seemed to disappear as I stared into his fascinating black eyes; watching the little flecks of color, as they seemed to shimmer and shine in the light of the moon, which reflected subtly off of our skin in a pale white glow.

Suddenly the owl's head twitched, and it flapped its wings in alarm. Spell broken, I immediately turned my attention to the surrounding forest, which, moments before, had been a cacophony of night sounds, now panicked into uneasy silence.

Except for the thunder of huge footsteps heading right for us. I quickly looked at Ash in panic, and saw that his eyes were wide, and immediately he leaped into action: throwing his arm up, the little owl was launched into the air, and it quickly took wing to fly to the top of it's tree. Unfortunately for us, the dense foliage prevented us from doing the same, without causing massive and very noticeable damage.

Grabbing my hand, Ash took off running to the east, with me close behind as the footsteps sped up. Whatever it was, it had heard us talking, and now it was hunting. I pushed myself faster as the creature thundered after us; branches whipped past, slicing our faces and arms; we leaped over fallen trees and small streams, sending the surrounding animals scurrying for cover.

A loud snarl right behind me gasp in fear, and I struggled to run even faster as I felt hot breath on the back of my neck, and heard the pounding of a massive heart. By now we were rocketing through the miles of forestland at speeds I would never have been able to comprehend was possible by a living creature, when I was human.

Suddenly I screamed as I felt a clawed weight on my back, which sent me hurtling towards the ground; Ash whirled around and in an instant had grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet before I could land. The look on Ash's face as he looked upon what had attacked us was as big a change as the difference between Angel from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ and Angelous, his evil side.

Lips pulled back to show his fangs, he growled deep in his throat as he faced the beast that had tracked us: A massive bipedal monster, covered in shaggy grey-black fur, with blazing amber eyes and a mouthful of canines dripping silver saliva.

"A werewolf?" I gasped, from my crouch behind Ash, who stood protectively in front of me. The werewolf snarled, baring his teeth and crouching down, laying his huge, paw-like hands on the ground as he prepared to leap for us.

Suddenly inspiration struck, and I reached out with my mind to try and control the werewolf, like Ash had done with the Quileutes. It was surprisingly easy to connect to the wolf's mind.

A harsh jumble of confused thoughts assaulted my mind and I jerked back reflexively; the werewolf shuddered and whipped its head back in forth in confusion. Taking advantage of it's stalled attack; Ash whipped something off of his neck and charged, roaring a challenge.

When the object he had clasped in his hand came in contact with the werewolf's skin, it howled in pain, and the smell of singed fur and skin filled the air. The massive wolf whined pathetically and backed away quickly, before turning tail and sprinting off into the forest, using it's clawed hands to dig into the ground to escape faster.

As it raced away, it's thoughts faded from my mind and suddenly I was myself again, and I was aware of the small trickle of blood that ran down my leg from where I had scraped my knee when I had been knocked down, and that I was shaking.

Slowly I leaned against a tree and sank to the ground, where once down, I pulled up the legs of my jeans and examined the small layer of missing skin that oozed crimson, black-tinged blood.

Suddenly Ash was standing in front of me, and I could feel his concern radiating off of him, along with his admiration for my ingenuity in a stressful situation. "That was clever, reaching out with your mind like that," He said, and then: "Are you ok? It didn't bite you when it ran into you, did it?"

I shook my head and pulled the legs of my jeans back down to cover my already-healing scrapes. Ash offered me his hand and I took it gratefully, feeling the coolness of his hand as he pulled me to my feet.

Dusting off my hands, I looked around, noting that there hadn't been a lot of damage done, except for a few saplings uprooted and clumps of grass torn up.

"Well that was melodramatic." I commented.

Ash grinned.

"So, what was it you used on it?" I asked curiously, and his grin faded away. Silently, slowly, he held out his hand, and opened it to reveal an ancient heart-shaped silver locket, with an intricate design engraved on the front and the back, of feathered wings folding over the heart.

"It's beautiful." I whispered, and I reached my hand out to hold it, but he quickly closed his hand over it again and pulled it back. Though I was hurt slightly, I didn't make a comment because I could feel from his mind that it was a very personal and cherished object.

An hour later, we reached the edge of the forest, and an ocean breeze swept my hair back from my face, and the smell of brine and fish filled my senses. I breathed in deeply, and sighed.

"We're here." Ash said with a smile, waving his arm in a grand gesture. I followed his line of sight and stared in shock. " Wow. It's huge!" I said in amazement, staring at the huge cruise ship that was docked in the far distance, huge spotlights shining on it.

"Yep, and _that's_ how we're crossing." He said, and I turned to stare at him.

"You're serious."

"Yep."

"Why can't we just fly?"

"Well, it would be very dangerous to fly over the ocean by ourselves, without protection from the sun and nowhere to land, and in a plane? Well, lets just say it's not a good thing to see a fellow passenger burst into flames when you open the window cover."

I tried not to laugh seeing as he was being serious.

"So how much does it cost?"

"Nothing."

"You're joking. We're not going to break in and be stowaways are we?"

"No, though I did do that once, it just wasn't a cruise ship, and that was a long, long time ago…it was fun, until one of the passenger's pet rat went missing…"

"So why is it free?" I said, trying not to laugh at his comment.

"It is owned by the vampire Captain Jack Harper." And then he smirked again. "He watches a lot of Torchwood and Doctor Who." He said as an explanation, but I had no idea what he was talking about. He shrugged with a smile, "Remind me to show you once we're onboard; he'll defiantly have copies of the seasons."

"So, is it vampire only, or are there any humans, or Hybrids at all?"

"It is mostly humans onboard, but they just think it's an ordinary cruise ship, and they have to pay still, its just passage is free for our kind who wish to travel the ocean safely, on one condition."

"What's the condition?"

He smiled at me, and reached into his pocket to pull out a wallet (we had gone to a bank two days ago, and he had extracted a couple hundred dollars from his 'family account', something he still hadn't explained to me.) which he held up.

"You're going to need a dress."

AN: There you go people! Yeah, the whole werewolf scene was, as earlier stated, melodramatic, but important. You'll see why eventually.

**And I apologize in advance to the people out there who **_**hate**_** Mike Newton; (I myself do, but then again, I haven't written from his PoV yet, so when I do, I'm likely to start liking him, or, **_**my**_** Mike Newton, at least. [by '**_**my**_**' I mean the version of the character that I'm writing.])**

**So, yeah, I'm not going to tell you (in my usual fashion) why exactly Mike is important****,** (Rjalker here, cutting into Alle's story (even thought she doesn't want me to): _I _was the one that picked Mike, 'cause he needs, in my own words, "Redemption, because he can't be just always a pathetic dude that falls in love with every pretty girl he meets, he has to be more than that, talk about a flat character,")** or why the werewolf was either, or the Locket's significance in this story. You'll just have to wait patiently and find out!**

**Oh yeah, want to know what sucks? Today, 1/4/11, I got up at 6:40 to get ready in the shower, get ready for school, pack my lunch, etc, and I did, and I was ready as usual, and then things started to go wrong.**

**First: my younger brother who is allergic to the cold has to ride the 'special bus' because of his allergy and the fact that he got kicked off his bus (I forget why) anyways, he didn't wake up because he had thought our mom was home, and he hadn't set his alarm the night before, and so he woke up late and had 8 minutes to get ready for his bus. Of course, he missed it, so he had to go to the bus stop with us to get on his old bus.**

**Second: Since our mom got back surgery, and we live half a mile from the bus stop, (and not to mention that in the morning, we get up **_**soo**_** early the sun hasn't risen yet), so our mom usually drives us, and since her surgery, our neighbor has been driving us.**

**So, you can probably guess what happened.**

**She didn't come. **_**Well,**_** she obviously **_**did**_** come, because ten minutes after our bus usually comes, and we're waiting for her to show up, knowing that we missed the bus, we see her **_**driving back from the bus stop!**_

**Third: so we're trying to call our mom and step-dad, **(Rjalker again, sorry, we hate Tim, our step-dad. He's a moron lol)** who have been at the hospital all night because our mom's leg and arm have been hurting, but they never pick up (I can't remember, but aren't you not allowed to have cellphone in hospitals?) and our oldest brother decided, that though he doesn't have his driver's license yet, he's going to drive to school.**

**So, while we try to call our mom again, he walks out and gets in the Tracker (our awesome little car) and pulls out of the driveway! And after we repeatedly asked him. "Aren't you not supposed to drive alone? Don't you need an adult with you?"**

**So yeah, we three missed school today, and I spent most of that time asleep on our living room couch! (Surprisingly, you get very tired when you get up at 7:00 in the morning…Note the Sarcasm.)**

**Oh well, it was funny at least. I woke up halfway though the Doctor Who episode "Utopia" (which I've watch a whole bunch of times already) and I'm like, half asleep, and all I hear is:**

_**BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!**_

_**BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!**_

_**BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!**_

**So yeah, for the people who have no idea what that's supposed to be, it's the sound of drums that everybody's favorite evil/insane Time Lord, the Master has had stuck in his head since he looked into the Time Vortex when he was 8. (Wow, that's like, being a 1 year old, for Time Lords!)**

**For those of you who have absolutely no clear about what I just said, basically, it's a drumbeat of 4, which is heard by a madman who wants to take over the world.**

**For Doctor Who fans, anyone notice that in "The Sound Of Drums" tha the Master was eating Jelly Babies?**

(Rjalker, _again_, Are they Jelly Beans, or Gummy Bears?)

Review pass: Jelly Baby!

**Review goal: 200 total!**

**Review subject: The Locket, The Werewolf, The Cruise Ship, Mike Newton…what you think of them, and any and all speculations! No matter how mad!**


	19. Vessles

**True Vamp Chapter 19: Vessels**

**No School! Woot! Now I can work on this more or less all day!**(Yeah right, she's asleep right now, and its 9:59!)** And read the Torchwood books **_**Slow Decay**_** and **_**Pack Animals**_** on my kindle!** (That's what she was planning, but she's asleep! I'm the only one awake! AHHHH I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF SOPHIE BY MYSELF! NO!GO BACK TO SLEEP DOG!)**—…Lol, that there'd be my twin Rjalker talking. (Sophie is our dog by the way)**

**Chapter Song: "I Will Follow" bu U2**

**Chapter Quote**_**: **_**"Hey, wanna see Conner do something cool? I'm teaching him how to die!"—Angel to Wesley **_**(Btw, this is totally random and has nothing to do with anything in the chap, or as far as I know, anything in this story.)**_** [No idea why, but I found this quote quite **_**hilarious**_**…]**

**(Bella PoV)**

"I don't like this," I whispered to Ash as we walked up the crowded white ramp from the concrete docks that lead to the landing, or whatever the proper name for it was. As the two pale guards at the top grew closer and closer, I nervously plucked at the satin collar of my black dress, feeling like unseen eyes were focused on me.

"Don't worry; nothing's going to happen." Ash said encouragingly, and offered me his arm, which I took gratefully as we neared the landing, listening to the rush of air passing through a thousand throats, and the beat of a thousand hearts; all the while feeling my throat burn at the rush of blood around us.

When we finally stopped in front of the two guards, on instinct, I inhaled deeply, but could only smell the surrounding mass of humans; the two had no immediate scent, and the watchful feeling intensified, while the buzz of multiple other minds grew loud enough that I could make out whispers of actual thought.

Not many of us left now; less than a hundred have come…

_I wonder who the fledgling with Santino was? Hopefully he's not going to go on another Swarm spree…Swarming spree? Is 'swarming' even a word? Eh, who cares…_

Then the two focused their thoughts on us, and both men smiled warmly at us, especially me, and I felt a feeble amount of warmth rush to my cheeks at the attention; Since I had fed very early in the night, and this was a little after midnight, my body had used up most of the blood, and so now I was paler than most people, but not abnormally so.

_Another Fledgling? Looks like the Tred rooms'll be busy… I should tell Jack, so he can get the video rooms ready—Oh, hey, you know I know you're there right? I'm Marcus by the way— no, with a 'K'._

He corrected my mental spelling, and I jerked in surprise, and Markus with a 'K' smiled, revealing the tips of his fangs, but in a playful, non-threatening way. His hair was longer than the other man's; his medium-sized eyes more angular, his face a bit wider, with a high forehead; his ears were larger than average, and tapered slightly: somehow managing to line up with the angle of his eyes, giving him a slightly wolfish appearance.

He was handsome; if this were a movie or a book, I'd have said '_Oooh I like him!'_ or something along those lines. I realized my mistake when he smiled even wider, winking at me. I opened my mouth to speak but didn't know what to say; embarrassment colored my cheeks again, but Markus shook his head, still smiling.

Don't worry; I don't play for your team. He whispered with his thoughts while Ash and the other man—Vaun—Markus supplied the name, talked quietly. Suddenly Vaun nodded and looked down at the important-looking clipboard he was holding.

"Names?" He asked in a business-like voice.

"Allen Carpenter" Ash said without hesitation.

"Lillian Carmichael" I said. I was using the fake name we had decided on using; Ash was using the name his 'family' bank account was under.

_I'm Bella by the way._ I thought to Markus as Vaun nodded and pulled out two VIP passes and handed them to us. I knew it was okay to revel my real name, as the fake one was just for show.

I slipped the VIP pass's cord around my neck as we walked past Vaun and Markus, into the water vessle alive with the roar of vampire minds.

**(Angela PoV)**

I came back to consciousness in stages.

First: I could feel a deep ache throughout my body.

Second: I could feel the stinging cold of rain as it pelted my face and arms, and the overall numbness of my entire body as the cold rain and wind chilled me to the bone. I could feel a layer of moisture coating my skin, and that I was trembling from the cold.

Third: my hearing came back; now I could actually hear the wind whistling through the air, and the silence of the parking lot. No distant thunder of feet in hallways, or murmur of voices; no sound of idling cars with students skipping class.

I was alone.

Finally, I gathered enough strength to open my eyes, but when I did, all I saw was darkness: no light, no colors, nothing. Panic overwhelmed me and I felt myself begin to shake violently. I was on my back, and I sat up quickly, throwing an arm out to feel for my surroundings before I cried out in pain. Agony shot up my back and out to my arm and head and I flinched instinctively, but that just made it worse.

I felt my throat burn as tears gathered in my eyes. Sobs tore themselves up my throat as I slowly curled into a ball as the shaking became worse, the violence of the tremors increasing with my terror.

Where was I?What's happened to me?

_Why can't I see?_

_What if I've been kidnapped, and I'm stuck in some place in the middle of nowhere? What if the kidnapper is still around here? What if I've been just left here to die?_

Wait! My cell phone!

I quickly fumbled for my pants pocket with numb fingers; finally locating the small phone my parents had so grudgingly bestowed. I brought it out and clutched it tightly, barely feeling it against my chilled skin.

Concentrating, I stared where I knew my hands were, but still I saw nothing. Another wave of panic made my hands shake so badly I almost dropped the phone: _Am I blind?_

But I shook my head—and immediately regretted it when a burst of pain through the back of my head flared to the front, making my entire head ache, and my stomach churn.

It was only then that I remembered the events from earlier today—Tonight? Yesterday? —How was it that I had gotten so sick? Maybe someone drugged my food? But no, I hadn't eaten lunch, or breakfast because I had woken up late…maybe that was it? I hadn't eaten? But I had skipped breakfast before, and I had gotten sick when I was in line for lunch…

Suddenly, I heard a sound that made my blood run cold and my heart skip a beat.

Footsteps, walking toward me: my earlier thought ran through my mind again: _What if I've been left here to die? —What if I_ _**haven't?**_

My terror reached its peak and, as silently as possible, I began to crawl painfully away from the direction the footsteps were coming from; feeling the pavement beneath my hands scratching the skin; all the way shaking uncontrollably, pain flaring through my limbs cripplingly, but somehow I managed to keep moving.

A sudden shout made me gasp in terror and the pain that before had only been crimpling, suddenly flared, making my entire body spasming and paralyzed at the same time.

A scream of agony tore itself out of my throat and immediately a panicked voice shouted out, a voice I could dimly recognize through the haze of pain:

_"Angela!"_

Followed by footsteps running toward me. Still unable to see, I heard it when whoever it was—it sounded a lot like Mike—stopped and stared at me before shouting and running forward, taking out their phone and dialing 911; my hearing seemed to have been enhanced by my blindness, because I could hear the answer on the other line as clear as day.

Suddenly I felt cold hands on me—I probably should have noticed that they felt _cold_, even though I was probably close to be hypothermic—and instantly instinct took over.

My right arm lashed out, connecting with flesh and sending my apparent attacker flying; while with my left I pushed off of the ground and into the air, leaping up and to the side, and when I landed I could feel metal under my spasming hands.

My shoulder blades and hips were jerking and shifting; bones crunched and ground against each other, prompting another scream of agony as I slumped down on top of what I now realized was the top of a car.

I could feel the bones in my arms and legs stretching, and my fingers dug into the metal as they shrank; finger's coming together and sticking, forming a paw. My shoes suddenly felt too small as my feet too transformed into paws.

My spine extended, and what felt like _a tail_ sprout from the base of my back,

My face sprouted fur and my mouth and nose elongated into a short, thick muzzle, and my ears lengthened and grew, while whiskers pricked out from the sides of my mouth; giving new clarity to my surroundings.

Behind me, I could hear the tinny voice of a 911 attendant or whatever they're called asking "Hello? Sir? Are you ok? Try to stay on the line, I'm tracing you're call—are you okay? Is anyone there?"

And a groan of pain from my apparent assailant who still lay where he had fallen, as he slowly tried to rise to his feet.

Sensing the threat, I whirled around atop the car, and an animalistic hiss of warning slid between my teeth as I prepared to spring.

**(Jacob PoV)**

We were all gathered in the living room; outside moonlight shone through the brightly lit windows. It had taken Leah and me hours to calm down enough to change back, and now both of us were wearing shorts and tee shirts donated grudgingly by Paul, who had had extra clothes in his truck.

"This has never happened before in the tribe." Joshua wheezed, stating the obvious.

Leah and me were seated on the cold metal chairs, the backs of which were against the wall in Joshua's house; Joshua was one of the older Elders, and he and Old Quil were now both white haired and wrinkled, but much respected by the rest of the Elders. Out of the two, Joshua was the oldest, and he was nearing his 90th birthday; it was a miracle he could remember everything he did.

All the other Elders' chairs were arranged in a half circle, with us at the extreme opposite side of Old Quil and Joshua, who were in the center of the line of the circle. Sam, Jared, and Paul each stood an equal distance apart behind the Elders' chairs, staring at us, watching for any sign that we were going to attack.

Basically, we were surrounded.

Beside me, Leah rolled her eyes, and I saw Paul glare at her; I glared right back, left fist clenching at my side as I resisted the urge to leap at him. I had felt this unbelievable protectiveness toward Leah ever since I had met her eyes after I phased, and I knew she felt the same.

My left hand was intertwined with hers, and our chairs as close together as possible.

"No two pack members have ever had the same spirit form; much less the pelt like the Old One's eyes!" Joshua shook his head slowly. "And for a woman to change; and for those very same two wolves to imprint on each other!"

A bout of coughing shook his frame, and Sam handed him a glass of water, and he drank slowly. Again, I wondered what he meant by 'imprint'.

He cleared his throat before continuing: "All of these things are unheard of; but tell me, what do you think of all this?" he asked, directing his question to Sam, who stepped forward.

"Neither of them would obey when I commanded them to stop fighting. They both do not follow orders, even when I decreed them to submit." He said, his voice hard.

Joshua looked at us, face grim, and his voice took on a commanding tone: one of ancient authority.

"Jacob Black; Leah Clearwater. You have two choices." Joshua said without preamble.

"One: you will accept Sam as your Alpha, and you will obey his every command, no matter the circumstances; even if it means that you must fight the newly turned Isabella Swan."

Leah looked at me, and I looked back, knowing exactly her thoughts. I stood slowly, showing that I was no threat. "We will not be forced against our will to do something we do not agree with." I told them all, head held high, speaking with a prideful assurance and power didn't know I had.

"Your decision is final?" Joshua intoned, while beside him my father's eyes were wide and he shook his head franticly, panic in his eyes. I nodded my assent, sitting back down and crossing my arms over my chest to wait for their decision.

"Then you will be traitors to the tribe; betrayers of a legacy; vessels of hate and hatred. Unless you choose to submit to our will, you will be exiled from the tribe—"

We both leaped to our feet at the same instant, but our cries of outrage were dwarfed by those of our fathers, one of whom had jumped to his feet, while the other wheeled his chair forward, their expressions ones of horror and pleading.

"You can't do this!" Dad shouted,

"They're just kids!" Harry shouted, shaking his fists at them all.

Joshua continued his speech, unheeding to our shouts.

"—Never again to walk on this land, never to talk to your family. All of the tribe shall remember you, but as traitors, deserters, turncoats in a war that has lasted since _before you were born!_" he shouted, and suddenly all of the Elders stood, Vince and Tony moving to restrain Harry, while Jonathan simply grabbed my father's wheelchair handles and wheeled him towards the door, pushing with one hand while he grabbed both my father's arms with his other hand, twisting them painfully.

Rage filled me to see my infirm father manhandled this way, and I began to shake dangerously. I turned my animalisticly enraged eyes on Joshua, the man who had started this, intent on ripping him apart.

That was when I saw the multitude of guns pointed at us, all of them old revolvers, dangling feathers and beads on rawhide strings, the barrels painted with ceremonious symbols and writings.

My shaking stopped as coldness swept through me, while Joshua slowly stood, leaning on his cane, lifting his gun slowly to point at my chest as he continued his speech:

"Now you will leave this tribe, this land forever. Death shall be your reward for your treachery!" he shouted, before firing.

**(****Aoife PoV****) (Thanks Mayfairy! Here's your character, hope you like how I portray her!)**

I winced in pain as I felt my permanent headache twinge, growing in strength for an instant before fading to a dull ache behind my eyes. I sighed in resignation.

All Dryads knew to expect the pain, ever since they were born into their birthtree. For the last couple hundred years, the humans had been cutting down hundreds—if not thousands—of trees every day; the very trees we were connected to mentally.

I sighed again as I leaned against the nearest tree (a tall pine,) listening to it's internal murmurings as it mused on the early flurries of snow that drifted among its branches.

A sudden almost imperceptible stiffening of the surround trees made me jump to my feet and flatten myself against the rough bark of the pine as the trees sensed a danger. Immediately I concentrated, and felt coolness spread through my limbs. Now no one would be able to see me; all they would see was the tree.

A low whisper of sound came from behind me, and I looked around the trunk, only to clap my hand over my mouth to suppress a gasp: two massive hyenas were trotting through the woods, their dog-like muzzles open for any scents on the wind.

They were beautiful, shapeshifters defiantly, but I had never seen any of them like this: they were too big, bigger than your average shifter, and their fur was so…odd. The one on the right was limping, and their fur was matted with dried blood. Suddenly there was a rustle of cracking dead leaves and two lions stalked out, their gold eyes alert for any threats.

The male lion's mane was especially dark; it's fur just a shade lighter. Above them two great horned owls flew on silent wings, their large eyes also scanning the night.

Though none of them saw me, I felt a thrill of terror steal through me.

All of them had fur or feathers as black as pitch, which shone iridescently in the moonlight.

"Vessles of Destiny" she whispered the line from the prophecy to herself.

* * *

**AN: Well that seemed like a good place to stop! And I would like to thank Mayfairy for her character submission, the only big change I made, (well, actually I'll tell you that in a PM,) because I just _love_ torturing you guys with facts about my (In this case ours, or rather, Yours, Mayfairy) species/characters. It's so much fun! **Evil laugh****

**You want me to update soon? I want 15 reviews. Why 15? As compensation for all the lazies who didn't review last chap. (lol, I'm obsessed with getting a lot of reviews—who can blame me?)**

**Anyways, thank you everyone who has reviewed! Oh! And you'll be seeing more of those characters you guys submitted during…you know what? I can't even remember what chapters the AN was between. Oh well.**

**Oh yeah, anyone else who wants to see a character in here, please submit a summery of them!**

**Review password: SANZAC!**

**(Lol, you'd probably laugh if you knew where I got the inspiration for his name)**


	20. Exacerbation

**True Vamp Chapter 20: Exacerbation**

**[if you don't know what it means, make sure you read the AN at the end of this chap. _It is important!_]**

**Chapter Song**

**"Lea Halalela", [translates to "Holy Land"]**** from the album "Rhythm of the Pride Lands"***

***—Basically, it's from The Lion King movie. (Which has been my absolute **_**favorite**_** movie since I saw it, but I haven't seen it since I was, like, 5, and I really, really want to watch it! unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it's in the 'Disney Vault'—anyone know where I could get it on DVD?**

**Disclaimer: don't own Twilight or its characters. Don't own Underworld, Not sure if I own Michael Night still; for people who are confused (and I don't doubt that's all of you) you'll see soon, just maybe not in this chapter…**

**Claimer: I own all original characters, including: Joshua, Blake, ****Vince, Tony, Jonathan, Christine, Merek, Edith and…Etc.**

**Oh yeah, pay attention to how I describe Jasper's power, and all of the Cullen's body language…I'm developing the Twi-Vamp/Hybrid's hardly-if-at-all mentioned social behavior and other small characteristics more in this chap.**

**Ohh, AND some slight Cullen darkness in this chapter! _Go Jasper, Go!_**

**_WARNING: _Prepare yourself for a few violent, gruesome descriptions in the chapter. Do not read the _italisized _part of Jasper's PoV if you can't stomach gory descriptions.**

**(Jacob PoV)—(Imagine this like a fast-paced action movie!)—No particular song.**

Everything happened very quickly.

Before Joshua's finger had even drawn the trigger far back enough to fire, the two windows in the room shattered spontaneously in a shower of glass.

Two pale as death figures flashed into the room, and commenced to disarm the Elders, _Underworld_style: legs and arms flashed out to send guns spinning across the room, out of reach of the astonished and terrified Elder's hands.

The older of the two (who also had a very Quileute-ish set to her face though her skin was paperwhite) was glaring daggers at the Elders, especially Joshua; in her hands she held two long, wickedly sharp ceremonial knives, one of which she threw at Jonathan with deadly precision; luckily, the way she aimed it, it went through his shirt, under his arm, hitting the hard leather there and sending him toppling to the ground; releasing my Dad's wheelchair as he went.

The younger one, (who looked to be about 7 years old, and looked a lot like the woman, but less pale) also held two knives, both of which she chucked at Vince and Tony, who let go of Harry with cries of terror; Harry immediately sprinted to my dad's side (who was staring at the woman in absolute _shock_) and grabbing the handles, ran towards us, using his body as a shield for Billy.

Neither of the two paid any attention to them, except for the older woman, who glanced…protectively? Towards them and us.

I was just getting over my shock when I heard again that soundless shimmer, and Sam, Jared, and Paul erupted into their wolf forms; shaking their heads, they snarled and charged at the pale women; their three forms taking up nearly half of the huge room.

The woman hissed, revealing four razor-sharp fangs, and as the wolves advanced on her and her companion, her hands curved, the long nails on the ends of her fingers seeming to transform into claws. Her black eyes narrowed, and her waist-length ebony hair flared behind her head with the speed of her run as she charged toward them, knife in one hand.

An instant before they would have collided, she leaped into the air; sailing right over them to land in front of us while her companion jumped to the side. Before the pack could stop, they went hurtling into the wall, slamming into it painfully and shaking dust from the ceiling. All the Elders were cowering in the corner, too terrified to move. The Pack were lying limply, eyes rolling as they tried to focus after their headlong collision with the wall.

I stared at the woman's face in shock.

I knew her. Knew who she was.

_But it couldn't be, that's impossible—_

"Hello Jacob." My mother said.

* * *

**(Jasper PoV) Song— "Lea Halalela" .**

I winced and shook my head, trying to clear it as we ran through the trees. I tried to send out a calming wave, but nothing happened except that the feeling of utter desolation and inner agony intensified, filling my mind with low, almost musical notes.

"Can't you get him _away_ from me?" I growled; scowling as the black mood temporarily took over my own emotions.

Carlisle turned his head slightly to look at me from where he was in front, his emotions incredulous and irritated, eyebrows raised. I wasn't a mind reader—Mr. Black-Mood obviously was—but I would probably be correct in saying that his thoughts were going along the lines of '_How can he be so insensitive? He should realize what Edward is going through… he's acting like a child…'_

I scowled even more at the thought of it. Most of the time, my family would forget exactly _how much_ of their emotions I felt. They never understood that I could feel _every_ _single_ drop of despair, every torrent of hatred, every little stream of jealousy or pity, making a melody of sensation in my head.

An evil smile stretched across my scarred face; the need for vengeance the only thing I could feel. Concentrating, I dropped down my mental walls, and listening only to the mournful rhythm of the desolation as it pounded into my brain from Edward, I let it flow out of my mind to the others, in full force. Everyone but Alice.

Everyone but Edward—who went running ahead mindlessly, his thoughts a million miles away—stumbled to a stop, faces contorting in despair, bodies shaking with tearless sobs as they felt the full force of what I had been enduring for two entire days. Esme and Rosalie let out mournful, keening wails; Carlisle fell to his knees, hands over his eyes.

I smiled malevolently as I watched them suffer; suffer like I had.

"Jasper!"

Suddenly the thirst for revenge disappeared completely, and I blinked, overwhelmed as I looked around at all of my family sprawled more-or-less on the ground from their ordeal.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I whirled around to see Alice staring at me. But not in anger, disapproval or condemnation: she knew what had happened, she knew I hadn't meant for it to happen.

Doesn't mean everyone thought that.

I felt it an instant before it happened; just enough time to push Alice out from harm's way; unfortunately though, that left me vulnerable, and I snarled menacingly as I felt the huge hands grab my shoulders, lifting me into the air. A second later I had twisted out of Emmett's death grip, spinning around to land a hundred feet away in a crouch.

Emmett's face was contorted again, this time in rage as he faced me. I snarled again, daring him to challenge me, hands twisting into bone-colored claws, lips pulling back from my teeth in warning as I jerked my neck back and down, so that I was staring at him from the tops of my eyes, the fine hairs of my eyebrows just visible.

Emmett accepted the challenge with a roar, and as his rage took over my less-than-stable emotions, I felt my vision go red as the bloodlust overwhelmed me, and the pound of rage as if on a drum sounding in my head was the only thing I heard.

Charging toward me, I knew, even through the red haze, that Emmett would rely on his brute strength to win; that being so, I had analyzed his charge in the few seconds it for him to complete it and leapt straight up into the air, and onto a high tree branch. From there, not even an instant later, I leapt to another tree, before Emmett had even registered that I wasn't in his path any longer.

Ripping my hands into the bark of the tree branch next to me, I gripped it tightly and heaved, ripping the entire massive limb from the tree. Emmett was turning now, and as his enraged eyes fixed on me, building up the fuel for my own flame of rage that had been kindled in his heart, I hurled the giant bough at him as a distraction.

As the branch exploded into a shower of splinters and wood-burrowing grubs on impact with Emmett's face, I leapt right over his head again, to land on the side of the tree nearest him.

From there, I dove unhesitatingly, to land on his shoulders, and gripping his head, I was about to twist it savagely, ripping it from his neck, when I felt an arm wrap around my own neck just as I realized what I had been about to do.

I was slammed to the ground with a loud _crack!_ I had landed on a large flat stone, which was now pulverized. But I didn't pay any attention to that, because in a flash of blond hair Rosalie was at my throat, her own rage twisting her face as she protected her husband.

The husband who was now at her side, glaring death at me.

Fear and determination filled me as they bared their teeth, deaf to the now-audible-to-me cries of my other family members as they tried to stop us from fighting: to stop us from killing each other.

I struggled to get out Rosalie's grip, baring my teeth as I snarled ferociously. Suddenly Emmett was the one holding me, his large hand wrapped around my neck so tight I couldn't get enough air in to growl.

The terror emating from my wife and adoptive mother filled my mind in a panic of high notes as Emmett snarled, baring his teeth in my face. The sight of his venom-coated teeth aimed for my throat sent my mind hurtling back into the past: back to all of my first battles in Maria's Newborn army:

_Charging across the wide moonlit field, dodging the piles of bloodless human corpses that lay on the ground only to collide with the massive wave of enemy newborns, their crimson eyes ablaze with the need to kill, their hands curved into bone-colored claws, mouths open and gaping, baring their teeth as we fought…_

_The face of every single Newborn as their teeth ripped into my skin as they piled on top of me, their weight sending me to the ground as screams of agony ripped themselves up my throat as their venom burned through my hollow bloodless veins…_

_The agony of finally managing to stagger to my feet; one arm ripped full off, missing flesh, mangled beyond recognition, my other arm completely ripped from my shoulder; the chunks of flesh I could feel missing from my face; hearing the wheeze of my breath as it whistled through my torn, ravaged throat, the venom roaring it's way throughout my body only adding new kinds of pain as it struggled to incapacitate me…_

Horror filled my mind, blinding me to every other instinct as I began to claw at Emmett's hands, my only desire to _get away from his teeth!_

My eyes clouded over and I spat venom in his face, trying to distract him and loosen his grip on my neck as my emotions spiraled out of control from all the sensations assaulting my brain from everyone around me.

A tiny hand clamped down on Emmett's shoulder, and he released his hold as he went flying back, crashing into Rose, who had been standing behind him, and sending them both hurtling into a massive tree, making it creak dangerously before it toppled backwards.

Alice stood in front of me, her gold eyes ablaze with protective anger, her lips still curled back from her teeth, as she turned and snarled at Emmett, Rose, and Carlisle, who had done nothing to stop the fight; only to shout at us; unwilling to get between us, because he knew he was no fighter.

Alice's dominant emotion was resentment for him, and as she turned her blazing gaze back to mine, she took in my horror filled eyes, and the way I was shaking as all of their emotions continued to assault my mind, her eyes softened. She took my hand, sending little calming waves to me through the contact.

She tugged on my arm, and it took little persuasion to send me running with her through the trees, away from the emotional havoc; away from our family.

As the distance between them and us grew, I gradually became calmer, and I wondered what had set me off back there. Had it been Edward's emotions, _his_ thirst for vengeance that I had felt? Or had it been someone else's?

In the distance, I could hear Carlisle's cold, serious voice he used when he was _very_ upset, as he reprimanded Emmett and Rose for attacking me.

As we continued on our way towards Forks in silence with Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Rosalie behind us, and Edward ahead of us, the miles dissolved under our tireless feet as the sun above us sank below the horizon and rose again, repeating it's cycle three times before we finally reached our destination.

About a mile out in the woods, behind what had formerly been the house of Bella Swan, we found the scene of the crime, with Edward there, staring blankly at it all.

Police tape surrounded the area, and a large tent had been set up to protect the site from the elements; we were extra careful to not leave any marks or footprints. The scattered remains of splintered trees lay where they had fallen, claw marks gouged deeply in some of their trunks, the scratches in deep contrast to the surrounding wood in the moonlight.

A darkening of the mud and dirt, along with the faint scent of blood permeated a large area of the ground, where there were slight, barely visible imprints on the ground marking where a body had been lying for quite some time before moving.

But the blood of Bella Swan (albeit tainted with some unknown scent) was not the only thing we could smell.

"Do you smell that?" Alice whispered, hatred and sorrow in her voice and emotions.

I nodded. "Wolf; those Quileutes have been here."

Just then Emmett and company came running in, ducking under the flap of the tent's entrance before looking around. Emmett gave me a sheepish smile, apparently over his anger, but deep in the back of his mind, where the emotions he wasn't even aware of having, his feelings of distrust and weariness for Alice and I had intensified.

The same was true for the rest; they just weren't aware of it. But someday, that would change, and their acceptance of Alice and I would break, and we would be left behind.

As Carlisle bent to sniff the blood more closely, we all froze.

_Click, click, click, whirr._

We all looked straight up at that instant, to see a tiny camera pointed straight at us.

A little red light on its side indicated that it was active, and streaming live video to an unknown place, most likely to the police station, or some other crime facility.

"Oh _shit._" Emmett said.

**

* * *

(Merek PoV)-Archangel Detective Agency, Fork's** **Branch (that's not exactly the word i was looking for, but it's close enough)**

I stared in shock at my computer screen.

There they all were: the Cullens. _Returned to the scene of the crime_, I thought as I blinked stupidly at the monitor. On my desk, a printout of the family was listed under _suspects_ in the case folder.

Suddenly I realized what I was looking at and I leapt to my feet. "Boss! I've got them! They're in the woods, at the site!" I shouted, and all the heads in my department turned to look at me, while the other men and women who were working on the case with me rushed over; Daniel Cutter actually spilling his coffee onto his desk as he jumped up.

"What are they doing?" Edith Cleark, my superior asked loudly, cutting through the excited babble of my coworkers as they all gathered around my desk. Edith Cleark was a tall, orderly woman, with lightly graying brown hair, green eyes, and a serious, no-nonsense face.

"They seemed to be looking around; some of them are acting a little odd though, the father, Carlisle, looks like he's sniffing the ground—Oh crap, They've seen the camera." I said, just as the faint exclamation of _"Oh shit" _could be heard through the computer's speakers.

"How far away is the team?" Edith asked, staring at the screen intently over my shoulder. Then her eyes narrowed, and she ground her teeth in frustration. "Great; they've left; are the other cameras operating?"

I typed in some commands, and the view switched to show the screen divided into ten little squares, each showing a live video feed of the forest around the crime scene; all except for the one in the top left corner, which showed nothing but static.

Then another went out.

And another, and another.

"What's happening?" Edith demanded, and then we both jerked away from the screen with simultaneous gasps.

An amazingly beautiful woman stared out of the computer at us, her pale face, framed with flaming red hair filled Camera 6G, but her beauty was not what shocked us.

It was her eyes.

They were blood red.

**

* * *

****AN:**

**"Exacerbate: _v._ [_trans._] make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse"—The New Oxford American Dictionary, Kindle ! Who loved it? Who hated it? Who is confused? Who had the heck shocked out of them when they read the first part?**

**And I apologize if the Jasper part seemed drawn out; I wanted to stress the results of their fight.**

**Haha, Victoria is back! You all didn't think I had forgotten her, did you? Anyone wanna take a guess at what's gonna happen next chap?**

**Reviews: let's try and get to 200! That means 9 reviews! So c'mon! Review! And don't forget to vote on my poll: What's your favorite story? True Vamp? Or Heroes Of The Evolution? [P.S.: I'm working on chapter six! Hopefully it'll be done soon!]**


	21. The Dance

**True Vamp chapter 21: Dance**

**So! 8 days since my last update. I think I'm going to start keeping track of how long it takes me to write chaps… word count: 4,834, on Microsoft Word. (Don't Own)**

**Chapter songs (In Order): **

**f"Kiss Me Goodbye" By Angela Aki,"Kite" By U2,"City Of Blinding Lights" (also) by CHAPTER IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! PAY ATTENTION TO THE SONG LYRICS! IF YOU'VE GOT YOUTUBE, LISTEN TO THESE SONGS WHILE READING THIS CHAP!**

**Disclaimer: own nothing but my OC's, (including inanimate objects, such as the _Night Legacy__;_) However, I do not lay claim to any Torchwood or Doctor Who related names; I am a fan of both shows, so, consequently, so are my characters; they just decided to name themselves after characters…namely Jack. (Because seriously, he's THAT awesome!)**

***(Courtesy of Rjalker [liar, she only gave me the word 'legacy'!])**

**(And don't forget to vote on my poll!)**

**(Bear with me on the format of this chap; when i go to align center, everything does it, or it doesnt work at all, when i go to bold, it bolds everything or deletes stuff, etc, and it's gotten so irritating that i just re-uploaded the entire chap in it's original, post-flashdrive form, so that i don't throw my mom's laptop acoss the room or pull my hair out by the roots... Fanfiction's Document manager hates me tonight...i've edited as much as i could, but don't blame me if the final product had some indentation issues.)**

**. .**

**(Bella PoV) (Two weeks after her turning, Sept 28****th **_**[there'll be some bigger time gaps in the next few chaps, and the rest of the story])**_

_Immediately when we boarded the __**Night Legacy**_* the scent of hundreds—if not thousands—of humans assaulted my sense of smell, and my throat burned faintly with thirst.

All around us were finely dressed humans: man, woman, and child, all dressed in their best; many men wore tuxedos, or a buttoned shirt with black dress pants. Women wore long, flowing dresses like mine, or short, revealing ones, or a skirt and top.

A small group of beautiful women with midnight black or dark brown hair were huddled in one corner, their rainbow-black eyes wide with interest as they watched the flow of men passing them; sometimes one would whisper to the others and they all would giggle or widen their eyes in appreciation.

_Look at that one!_ One of them thought; _His hair looks like a bird's nest!_

_Yeah,_ another girl added,_ that_ _or Mason decided he was gonna sleep there!_

All of them burst out laughing, and I wondered who Mason was as I stared at them in fascination. Everyone here was the first of my kind that I had ever met, besides Ash, and these were the first other female vampires I had ever seen.

Suddenly Ash tugged on my arm, breaking my reverie, and he smiled before leading me through a long corridor. All around us humans and a few other vampires streamed in the same direction, their faces eager.

As we walked, I let my mind wander, listening to the humming roar of all the minds around me, but not concentrating enough that I would hear the words; just the voices. Suddenly, on the slight breeze the air conditioners and the rush of moving bodies created, I caught a whiff of a tantalizingly tempting aroma that was almost irresistible.

I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs with the scent, and exhaled in a gust with a smile of appreciation. "That smell's amazing!" I said to Ash, laughing. "What is it?"

The corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile, "Steak, roast beef, chicken, baked potatoes, et cetera."

My eyes widened slightly as I glanced at him; I didn't know why I was surprised: the Cullen's had said that human food smelled revolting to them; but then again, I was learning that not everything they didn't or—couldn't—do, or did and didn't like would be the same with me; with us.

"Don't worry, we'll eat later, below deck." He told me and I looked at him quizzically. Did they have animals onboard that we would feed on? Or…_humans_?

"I'll explain later, after." He said, and I nodded, though still slightly confused and worried.

I looked ahead, straining to see over the heads of the people in front of me: we had been walking down a long, lavishly styled corridor, but now the décor was changing. Suddenly the flow of bodies ahead of us spread out, and just as I was wondering where they we going we came out from under an arch and into a massive ball room alight with the hum of voices.

Though I knew we were on a ship, this room looked like it had come straight from an old-fashioned manor; crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, double secured by steel plates, and large but almost invisible—even to my eyes— metal nets hung underneath, to catch anything, should it happen to fall from it's fixture.

Around the edges of the dance floor, there were circular, four-chaired tables, decorated by a simple yet elegant white table cloth with a small vase of different colored roses at the center.

Hundreds of people crowded the dance floor as instrumental music played serenely from systematically placed speakers, and as I watched the softly swaying crowd of humans, Ash pointed to a large balcony at the opposite side of the entrance. As I watched, a door slid open and a tall, dark haired man stepped out in a captain's uniform; his pale skin almost as white as his clothes.

The man tapped something on his chest, and when he cleared his throat it was magnified; I realized he had a microphone. "That's Jack" Ash whispered as the music stopped and the voices quieted.

"Good evening, Ladies and Gentleman, and welcome aboard the _**Night Legacy**__._ My name is Jack Harper, and I will be your captain for this evening and for the remainder of your stay." Jack said in a winning voice, and I saw some teenage girls whispering about how hot his voice was. I rolled my eyes.

"And now, I would like to ask you to please clear the dance floor, I believe our VIP's have a condition to fulfill." He said, and my eyes widened as I realized that I would have to dance. In front of everyone.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no…" I said as Ash tugged on my arm, pulling me into the large clearing that was made when all the humans backed up, their eyes on us. I could feel myself trembling from nerves, and feeble heat once again rushed to my face.

All around us, dozens of other vampires were walking onto the floor in twos; men and women of subtle grace and beauty; not as startling or as breathtaking as that of the Cullens, or rather, the Hybrids, who had been made that way, but the natural beauty of the human, enhanced by the wisdom and knowledge of the immortal.

"Let's take it slow, shall we?" Jack's voice suggested over the speakers, and I felt a clutch of anxiety in my stomach.

As Ash swung me around to face him, another blaze of heat rushed to my face as I realized I was going to be dancing _with him_; panic filled me; I didn't know what kind of dance we were going to do but—

_Ash, I __can't__ dance!_ I practically shouted with my thoughts, but he just shook his head and said _Follow my lead_, an instant before soft piano music flowed from the speakers.

After ten seconds, a woman's soft voice sang:

**You say my love is all you need, to see you through:**  
**But I know these words are not quite true**

Ash gently grabbed my hand, and in sync with the other vampires, we began to twirl across the dance floor; waltzing, I thought.

**Here is the path you're looking for, an open door  
Leading to worlds you long to explore**

**Go, if you must move on alone**  
**I'm gonna make it on my own**

As Ash spun me around, tipping me backwards over his arm, I felt myself beginning to enjoy the dance; I hadn't tripped yet, at least.

**Kiss me good-bye, love's memory  
Follow your heart and find your destiny  
Won't shed a tear, for love's mortality  
For you put the dream in my reality  
**

Instrumental music played for a couple of seconds before:

**As time goes by I know you'll see, this of me:  
I loved you enough to let you go free.**

**Go, I will give you wings to fly;**  
**Cast all your fears into the sky!**

As we waltzed across the room, with the other vampires twirling around us, I smiled up at Ash, but he looked preoccupied, and I could hear him listening closely to the lyrics, seeming to find significance in them.

**Kiss me good-bye, love's mystery;**  
**All of my life I'll hold you close to me**

**Won't she'd a tear for love's mortality**  
**For you put the dream in my reality**

Listening to the words, I realized what Ash must have been thinking of, because these words reminded me of myself.

**Kiss me good-bye, love's memory  
**_**You put the dream in my reality…**_

As the music stopped, we all slowly halted our dances; but suddenly a roar of applause from the crowd made me look up, startled. Women were looking at us in envy, the men, in awe, one person in the back even wolf-whistled as Ash released my hands and we both made a low bow to the crowd.

I smiled; apparently, I hadn't been that bad, and I found myself, (surprisingly), wanting to dance again. I looked up at Ash, "Care to join me for another dance?" I asked formally, playfully, laughing quietly. He smiled, and grasped my hands again as humans, unbeknownst to them, filled the space between the vampires already on the dance floor.

Music started playing again, a hard to describe tune, which vaguely reminded me of the music from _Planet Of The Apes_ at first.

**Something  
is about to give  
I can feel it coming  
I think I know what it is.  
**

I put my hands on Ash's shoulders as we slowly turned in a circle, feet shuffling in an unconscious square as we stared into each other's eyes, while the scent of the slowly rotating humans around us wafted into my face with the breeze of movement.

**I'm not afraid to die  
I'm not afraid to live  
And when I'm flat on my back  
I hope to feel like I did;**

**And hardness,**  
**It sets in;**  
**You need some protection**  
**The thinner the skin.**

**I want you to know,**  
**that you don't need me anymore;**  
**I want you to know,**  
**you don't need anyone**  
**Or anything at all!**

Again, as we spun slowly, I noticed a preoccupation in Ash's eyes, and I quietly asked, "What's wrong?"

**Who's to say where the wind will take you?  
Who's to say what it is will break you?  
I don't know,  
Which way the wind will blow.**

**Who's to know when the time has come around?**

_**Don't want to see you cry**_**  
I know that this is not goodbye.**

He blinked, and shook his head as if to clear it. "Nothing, I was just thinking… remembering."

**It's somewhere I can taste the salty sea,**  
**There's a kite blowing out of control on the breeze;**  
**I wonder what's gonna happen to you;**  
**you wonder what has happened to me…**

I watched him silently as the oddly fitting lyrics swirled through my mind. I always wondered about Ash's past, but in the past two weeks I had never asked him.

**I'm a man  
I'm not a child  
A man who sees:  
The shadow behind, your eyes…**

who's to know when the time has come around?

_**I don't want to see you cry**_**  
I know that this is not goodbye.  
**

**Who's to say where the wind will take you?**  
**Who's to say what it is will break you?**  
**I don't know,**  
**Where the wind will blow!**

As the song slowed down, I felt a particularly painful flare of thirst as a man dancing with his daughter bumped into me. "I'm sorry miss— not so quick on my feet these days" The father said, apologizing quickly, while his daughter blushed.

I nodded, face tight as I tried not to cough over the dryness of my throat; seeing my plight, Ash quickly took my hand, and weaving our way through the crowd, we arrived at a large hatch-door-thingy, which a vampire guard in front of it.

**Did I waste it**  
**Not so much I couldn't taste it**  
**Life should be fragrant**  
**Rooftop to the basement**

**The last of the rocks stars**  
**When hip-hop drove the big cars**  
**In the time when new media**  
**Was the big idea**  
**That was the big idea**

As the random yet-oddly fitting lyrics played softly in the background, Ash told the guard, "My fledgling is still young, not even a month old, would you mind if I took her below deck to get her a drink befo—"

His words were interrupted by a shout of fear; All three of us whirled around, and instantly I was seeing the vampire that had cried out through the eyes of those closest to him; he had leapt backwards, away from a shocked looking man holding an unlit cigarette in one hand, and a lighter in the other.

The man who had not even turned the notch to light the flame, before being interrupted [by the vampire (named Jaek) who had smelled the gas used to light it, now unconsciously turned the notch, and a small burst of flame flared up.

All the vampires backed up quick, and through the vampire who's mind I was looking through, I saw as, impossibly fast, the flame seemed to leap up high, seemingly sending out tendrils of flame in Jaek's direction, and towards all the vampires around it; the fire acting as if it had a mind of it's own in the seconds after it had been lit.

In the instant the flame reared up, it's orange glow illuminated all the terrified, pale faces around it, their black irises flashing violet for an instant.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a dark-haired woman rushed up to the man: she was almost as pale as a vampire, but I could smell her blood, and it smelled almost human.

"I'm sorry sir, but there is to be no unauthorized lighters or fire onboard this ship!" she said briskly, and before the man could protest, she had snatched the lighter from his hand, and with of flick of her wrist, she sent the unlit cigarette flying, to land directly in a trash can. As she walked away through the aisle the nervous crowd made for her, she called over her shoulder "And _no smoking_! I doubt anyone here would want to die of second-hand smoke because of you!"

I blinked, and once again, with a wave of disorientation, I was in my own body, next to Ash and the guard. I blinked again, and as my head cleared, I turned to Ash.

"What the heck was _that_?" I gasped, twisting around to see, about of hundred people away, the man who had been smoking, staring after the pale woman, while Jaek sighed in obvious relief.

Ash and the guard looked at each other, and a second later, the guard opened the hatch and as we ducked through, we descended some steep stairs, waiting for the deep _Clack! Click! Thud!_ Of the door closing behind us before Ash began explaining.

"You remember how I mentioned pheromones when I was telling you how I can hunt less because I have blood stored in my veins?"

I nodded as we descended another flight of metal stairs.

"Well, when we drink blood, we are re-filling our veins, which gradually lose blood as it is converted into a scentless—well, I shouldn't call it _scentless_, because it really just blends all the scents around us together—pheromone, which is _extremely_ flammable, as you saw back there."

He paused to take a breath before continuing.

"Because our hearts still beat, and we need them and oxygen to live, not all of out blood is converted—only enough blood is left over to keep our heart, lungs, brain, and other major organs from failing, with the heart, lungs and brain being the priority, so our bodies deny blood to the things that can get along without it, namely the surface of the skin, which becomes pale and cold, like a corpse.

"_Except_ for after we've fed, because then our body has enough blood to do everything for a short while—couple of hours at most—until the blood is converted, and the cycle repeats again. Everytime the blood we drink is changed, some of it is left behind, again and again, and that reserve of blood slowly builds up, until we don't have to hunt every night.

"It's a very gradual change—I'm over five hundred years old, and I can only go a couple weeks without drinking, but some of the Ancients, like Lucifer and Ramses can go for years without drinking blood."

I blinked as my mind absorbed all this new information, before asking,

"Earlier, you said we would 'eat', by that, did you mean drinking?"

"No actually, that's another thing I have to tell you about." he said as we rounded a corner, coming into view of a beautiful, red carpeted corridor, with hundreds plain wooden doors leading to closed doors.

Above us, some speakers on the walls played another song, one that sounded like it was by the same artist as before:

**The more you see the less you know,**  
**The less you find out as you go,**  
**I knew much more then, than I do now.**

**Neon heart day glow eyes**  
**A city lit by fireflies**  
**They're advertising in the skies**  
**For people like us.**

"You see, because we are still 'alive', and our bodies still change, but we only drink blood, our stomachs eventually cave-in, because it is only receiving a liquid—a liquid that very rapidly disappears.

"To prevent the fill cave-in of our stomach—and to make it look like we haven't been starving—centuries ago, a vampire named Philip Lecatro decided to experiment. He theorized, that because we drank the blood of living beings, then why could we not partake of the flesh, as we once had when we were mortal?

**And I miss you when you're not around**  
**I'm getting ready to leave the ground**

**Oh You Look So Beautiful tonight!**  
**In the city of blinding lights…**

"So he gathered others, who would watch over him in case something went wrong, and he bought meat—wanting to know that it was fit for human consumption—and fully cooked half of it.

"When the meat was done and had cooled, he took a small portion of it, and tasted it. Immediately he gagged and spat it out, but he was not daunted by his task; he was, after all, a scientist, and he knew that just because one way hadn't worked, didn't necessarily mean that all other attempts would fail too.

**Don't look before you laugh**  
**Look ugly in a photograph**  
**Flash bulbs, purple irises**  
**The camera can't see**

**I've seen you walk unafraid**  
**I've seen you in the clothes you made**  
**Can you see the beauty inside of me?**  
**What happened to the beauty I had inside of me?**

"So he gave the rest of the already cooked meat to some beggars, and coming back to his house, he took a small amount the raw meat and tried to eat it. He found that he could, because it was raw and still had blood in it that it was compatible with his system. He even enjoyed it. He urged the other vampires to try it, and they too found that they liked it.

"But he was not through with it yet; for what if a human saw them eating raw meat? So again taking some of the meat, he cooked it just so that the outside appeared cooked, while the inside remained pink.

**And I miss you when you're not around;**  
**I'm getting ready to leave the ground!_Oh! You! Look! So! Beautiful tonight!_**  
**In the city of blinding lights…**

"Again he tried to eat it, and to his delight found that it tasted good, and that his body didn't reject it. He ate as much of it as he could, and every month he would repeat the process, until a year had passed. Meeting with other vampires, all of who were the same total age as him, he showed his results by both him and a man of about his height and build removing their shirts.

The other vampire's appearance was like that of a starving man; he was painfully, impossibly thin, and all of his ribs showed, and you could even see the beat of his heart, he was so emaciated. If he wrapped his hands around his almost-non-existent stomach, both of his fingertips would touch, just barely.

**Time, time, time, time, time, _time!_**  
**Won't leave me as I am;**  
**but time won't take the boy out of this man!_Oh! You! Look! So! Beautiful tonight!  
Oh! You! Look! So! Beautiful tonight!_**

**_Oh! You! Look! So! Beautiful tonight!_**

**In the city of blinding lights**

"Philip Lecatro, on the other hand, looked as normal as could be. His chest flowed smoothly to his hips, without the huge concave depressions like in the other man, and only the upper most number of his ribs showed. He looked as human as he possibly could."

**The more you know the less you feel**  
**Some pray for others steal**  
**Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel, luckily…**

"From that moment on, Philip Lecatro vowed that he would learn all about us that he could, to better our interactions and protection in the world of the mortals. He is actually the one that discovered that we had pheromones, after analyzing and studying how a Dhampir was created: a half human, half vampire."

. . .

**(Mike PoV)**

I groaned as I looked out of the school's doors at the dark, rainy parking lot. I shook my head as I pulled my jacket on, zipping it up as I stared at the rain pelting the windows; from my vantage point I could see that the lot was nearly deserted, except for a few cars, including mine.

I hesitated a few seconds, unwilling to leave the warmth and general dryness of the school, but then I shrugged and pushed the doors open, thinking sour thoughts about the teacher I had been given detention by for talking in class as the cold rain immediately and diligently began soaking my clothes.

As I walked to my car, I saw that Angela's car was still in the parking lot, next to mine. _Her dad must have driven her home,_ I thought, _she seemed really sick at lunch, I wonder if she's ok?_

I thought about calling her as I fiddled with my dying Sansa Clip MP3 player {don't own, well, I own _one_ of them, but it's dying (literally), like Mike's.} in my pocket, wondering when my new one would come in the mail. Just as I rounded the side of my car, I saw a dark, human-ish shape, crawling on the ground.

Involuntarily, I let out a shout of fear, all the possibilities of what the thing could be playing through my mind as I took a step back, imagining it was a rapid dog, or one of those bears people had been talking about—A sudden scream of pain from the thing made me flinch back, but then I realized that I recognized the voice; I had known her since we were little kids, but why was she out here—Oh my god, is she ok?

_"Angela!"_ I shouted in panic, running towards her as she continued to scream, I stopped and stared for an instant as she came into view; her skin was deathly pale and bluish from the cold, and there was dried blood on the back of her head, crusting thickly in her hair. Her eyes were clouded and rolling, as if she couldn't see.

Suddenly, a voice from some TV show my dad and I had watched ran through my mind:

"_Temporary blindness is a symptom of a mild concussion…"_

It was then that I realized she must have fallen on the ice, and hit her head when she ran out of the cafeteria; but that would mean that she had been unconscious for hours!

I shouted again, not sure exactly what I said, but I immediately whipped out my new cellphone, my fingers quickly dialing _911_.

It rang twice, and then a woman's voice on the other line said: _"911, what is your emergency?"_ or something along those lines, I wasn't really paying attention. "Hello, yes it's my friend, I think she fell and hit her head on the ice!" I practically shouted into the phone as I ran forward to kneel next to Angela, laying my hands on her arm, as I was about to roll her over, about to say something helpful—though what, I had no idea—when suddenly her arm lashed out, with incredible strength, sending my flying through the air.

_What the hell?_ I thought in the few seconds that I was airborne.

I landed painfully on the pavement yards away, slamming into the ground, gasping as all the air _whooshed_ out of my lungs.

Coughing, I leaned forward, shaking, my face red as I gasped for air, trying desperately to refill my deflated lungs. It took me a couple of seconds to notice anything other than my burning lack of air, but the first sound I heard was a piercing scream, that was quickly becoming so high as to be inhuman.

Suddenly the screaming stopped to be replaced with a hissing snarl, like a cat, and I looked up in shock, to see standing on the (now utterly destroyed) roof of my car, an absolutely _huge_ black and white tiger.

It's fur was pitch-black, and shone dimly in the light streaming feebly from my cell phone's screen; it's stripes were the purest of whites, so bright in contrast to the black, that it appeared as if there were white lines floating in midair.

Mind numbing terror gripped me as I stared at this massive, impossible wild cat. It was only then that I saw the only other blaze of color besides black and white, and as I turned my head a fraction of an inch, I stared directly into the bright blue eyes of the tiger, so mystifying in the face of black night.

And the entire world fell away, leaving me stranded, but not alone. Because I could feel it; this immediate, all consuming connection to this beautiful, majestic feline, this creature of the night; _Angela_, I knew instinctively.

That was when, still unable to see from her concussion, she leapt for me, her claws extending as she snarled at the unknown threat.

. ...

**AN: OMG! I think I know what I'm going to do now!**

**See, I've been worrying over how I would keep writing True Vamp, when the crossover part (which is the majority of it) is based off of my book-to-be, Tale Of A Vampire, and I kept panicking, because I kept thinking,**

**"_What if I somehow get it published, and then the people who read True Vamp know what's going to happen?"_**

**And stuff like that, and while re-reading all my TrV chaps, so I could figure out how long it's been since she was changed (i should really pay more attention to that) and then I suddenly realized that I could change my original beginning, so that it doesn't start immediately after she's changed. Except then I run into some problems:**

**The fact that the guy who dumped her while moving away has to be a Hybrid (just not this Twi-vamp Hybrid (no sparkling, among other things), which she may or may not have known about.**

**I've got no family-info or town setting that she grew up in, so I have to make an entirely new family background.**

**The Archangel Detective Agency plays a _major_ part in both True Vamp and Tale Of A Vampire, and with no hometown, I've got no idea where their 'local branch' would be located.**

**Spoilers not-being-told, I've got no idea exactly _where_ I'm going to end TrV, without ruining a huge thing in ToaV!**

**AGH! The frustrations of being a FanFiction writer…**

**Come to think of it, I could always just delete True Vamp off of FanFiction…but it'd break my heart to do it, and probably a bunch of you guys reading this would find me and kidnap my dog (or twin sister) and demand that I repost True Vamp as ransom…**

**Luckily, I _very much_ doubt that I'll ever do that, unless of course I _do_ get ToaV published, and then I could probably publish _True Vamp_ as a kind of behind-the-scenes first trials of what my book originally was, just plus (some extremely helpful) Twilight Characters… with the permission of Stephenie Meyer and company of course, and that's assuming that _I do_ get it published anytime soon…**

**_HELP!_**

**~Make sure you vote and review!**

**~Or a shoe I'll throw at you!**

**~If I don't update soon,**

**~I'll probably get stabbed with a spoon**

**~So review,**

**~Or I cant update**

**~And If I can't update**

**~Someone will kill me with a spoon,**

**~Or a rabid raccoon,**

**~So review,**

**~And I wont die**

**~And you can read more about my favorite vampire guy!~~**


	22. Imprints

**True Vamp chapter 22: Imprints**

**Last Updated: 2/16/11—_200__th__ review reached! __YES!_**

**True Vamp stats as of 2/24 /11, 9:38PM:**

**Words: Chapters: 22 **

**Reviews: 200 (!)**

**Hits: 9,632**

**C2s: 0**

**Favorites: 45 **

**Alerts: 38**

**Chapter quote:**_**"The Dhampir knows the Lugat."—**_**Vampire Wikipedia (extremely helpful to me) and, randomly (just because I'm watching it as I type and because I **_**love it**_**:**

"…**Three days ago I died, and they think I'm fine. **_**But they're wrong."**_**—Owen Harper, Torchwood, **_**"A Day In The Death"**_

**Chapter song: ****(again) "Lea Halalela" for Jasper (in my mind, that is his official theme song, in it's native language), (also again) "I Will Follow" and "When Love Comes To Town" both by U2. ('U2: The best of 1980-1990' album)**

**2/22/11: right now it's 6:21 AM and we've got no school! Woot! Apparently we got 6 inches of snow, and because I'm not feeling particularly tired (though by all rights I should be; I got up at 5:40!) I'm going to if possible, try and finish this chap.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight, or '**_**1000 Ways To Die'**_**; they belong to their respective owners, nor do I own "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Feet Street" or any quotes from it.**

**Lol, my sis and me either have a morbid sense of humor, or none of our stepsiblings have **_**any **_**sense of humor: I put the movie on, and when it got to the "Worst Pies In London" part, I kept telling them to listen, and then I started laughing when Ms. Lovett (is that how you spell it?) mentioned cats and **_**"And I'll tell you something weird; all the neighbor's cats have disappeared…**__**what're they doing in my shop?"**_

**But they thought it wasn't funny.**

**It **_**soo**_** was! Who agrees with me?**

**. .**

**(Mike PoV) **

Animalistic instinct took over and my legs shot out from beneath me, and when I landed in the push-up position, I flipped myself over, landing in a crouch this time, a fierce, playful snarl coming unbidden to my throat as my body began to shake uncontrollably, as I tried to show her I meant no harm.

Angela's answering snarl was slightly less threatening as she sensed that I was no threat and that I was like her. Unexplainable peace descended over my trembling body as I stared at her graceful form, unable to look away as she stalked closer to me; I was mesmerized.

As she neared me, I stared again at her fur, a blackest hue as any I had seen; the stripes like lights glaring out in a black night, so bright against the dark that they were almost painful to look at; and all of it collectively sent off little preternatural prisms of light in the glow of the phone.

_"Hello? Sir, are you all right? I'm tracing you're call, please stay on the line if possible. Hello?"_

I twitched as I noticed that the phone was still on; Angela's head snapped around to the noise, her blue eyes glowed wider with fear. Immediately rage filled me, inexplicably and irrationally, that this stupid phone would scare her! I would defend her from anything that dared to frighten her, my…

Half-formed words from some ancient past drifted through my mind as I felt this mind-blowing protectiveness and love for Angela.

My hand shot out and I grabbed the phone in spasming grasp, and as if the woman on the other line heard the movement, she shouted something I couldn't hear as the roar of anger raged through my mind like a tidal wave.

Impossible strength flowed throughout my body as I crushed the small phone in my hand into fragments; the sharp corners of plastics, metals and micro-chips slicing through the skin of my palm, but I paid no heed to the small pinpricks of pain, because now I felt agony spread through my limbs like fire, and as I crashed to the ground, letting out a sharp yowl of surprise and pain.

Screams and yowls of anguish ripped themselves up my throat, as I thrashed and flailed on the rain soaked pavement; ripples of agony seized my muscles and bones, which vibrated, stretched and broke as they reformed; my hands seemed to curl into fists, then morph into huge paws, my thumbs disappearing, and fingers shrinking while my nails grew, then retracting into a small slit.

I watched in fascinated and agonized horror as fur burst out of my skin. I struggled to keep my eyes open as I screamed; my spine extended excruciatingly, and my arms, legs and face elongated and shifted, a short muzzle stretching out of my face, while my arms became the same length as my legs, and when the transformation suddenly stopped, I let out a surprised gasp and slumped to the ground as a whirl of panicked thoughts swirled around my mind.

_Mike? Is that you_?_ What the hell is going on?_

_What? What the heck?_ I thought as I heard Angela's voice in my mind.

_Mike! It is you!_ She shouted mentally, letting out a low purr of delight.

Through her eyes, I could see a huge blackness, like when you look at a light too long and then look away, but at the edges of the blackness, light was beginning to appear.

I felt a smile stretch across my furred face as I saw that, and asked,

_Angela, what happened earlier? At school?_

Just as she was about to answer, I heard laughter, and then a loud shriek and both of us let out simultaneous snarls and I turned towards the school to see the silhouettes of the principle, the secretary, and Mr. Varner, standing against the flood of light streaming out of the building, all three staring at us in shock and terror.

Mr. Varner was the first to unfreeze. Grabbing the other two's shoulders, he dragged both of them bodily back into the school, shouting for someone else inside to call 911 and animal control.

_Oh CRAP!_ I thought, and seeing that Angela was frozen, I turned to the woods and began to push her towards the safety of the trees; suddenly I heard a loud _BANG!_ And pain ripped itself up through my leg and I almost collapsed into a heap again as I realized that _I'd been shot._

_What the heck? Since when do schools have guns?_ I thought incredulously, angrily, as I quickly, painfully pulled myself back to my feet, letting out a whimpering hiss as pain jarred up my leg again.

_Mike! Are you ok?_ Angela gasped, ears flat back against her head as she tried to come to my side, but I immediately pushed her away, towards the trees. Hesitating, she backed into the dark woods; her fur would have been blending in, if it weren't for those stripes.

Lifting my leg gingerly as much as I could, I slunk closer to the ground, trying to stay hidden by the wrecked mass of metal that was now my car. I heard another shot go off, and a bullet shattered one of my windows almost hitting my head before it buried itself in the truck of a large tree near Angela, who let out a hiss, leaping away instantly to land in a crouch behind a large fallen log.

Snarling, I peeked over the hood of my car to see Mark, one of Forks' police officers, loading his gun again with one hand while he radioed in for assistance. Actual fear filled me, instead of the anger that had so readily come to my system, and I bolted for the trees as fast as my injured leg would allow.

But once we were a couple of miles into the surrounding forest, I actually began to think about what had happened tonight, and was convinced that I was either crazy or was dreaming.

_What do we do now?_ Angela thought; it wasn't directed to me, she was thinking to herself. _Where do we go? Is there anyone who can help us?_

Suddenly I had an idea.

_Angela, you know those legends about the Quileutes?_ I asked excitedly, turning to face her. She nodded her great striped head, and I continued. _How they can turn into wolves? What if it's true, or once was, do you think—_

_—They could help us?_ She finished my sentence, and I nodded. _We should head over to the res, but how will we know if it's true or not, or if we can trust them?_

_We'll just have to find out then, won't we?_ Angela said, and tail held high, she began to walk in the direction of the Quileute reservation, needing barely any assistance from me because her sight was coming back faster now.

_I hope we're doing the right thing, going to them._ I thought in the back of my mind.

**. .**

**(Edward PoV)**

Despite my family's protest, I ran unheeded to my angel's house; leaping through her open window with hardly a thought of what that could mean. Ignoring my vampiric instincts, which were screaming at me to leave, I was not safe, I was being observed; I moved to the center of the room and crouching down, lifted the loose boards, revealing all that I had planned to have left with her, even if she didn't know it.

Sobs built up in my throat as I took out the little pictures she had taken on her birthday: only a small amount were graced with her presence, and the rest were filled with my family and me as we celebrated at her doomed party.

Revulsion filled me when I saw the picture of us, folded back so that only I, treacherous monster that I am, was visible. Slowly, with trembling fingers, I lifted it and turned it around to see the smiling, (if not embarrassed) image of my angel looking up at me with sparkling eyes.

Another sob tore itself up my throat, and I felt agony pierce my heart as I wondered where she was, if she was okay, and if she was even still…

But no: I would not think that.

Suddenly another picture caught my eye and I turned to it, but the occupants of the picture filled me with such rage that I grabbed it and had torn it into fragments before a second had even passed.

Twenty seconds later, I left the room clutching a picture and a letter in my hands, not even bothering in my enraged, depressed state to hide the evidence, leaving the scattered remains of the picture I had shredded on the floor.

The fractured, scattered faces of a smiling Alice and Jasper stared up at the ceiling; eyes alight with a happiness they would soon find was scarce.

**. .**

**(Jasper PoV)**

"Why the hell did no one stop him?" I snarled to my family, pacing back and forth in the clearing, "Why did you let him leave? Who knows what's out in the woods, or how many cameras there are watching?"

"Jasper, calm down." Carlisle said in a placating voice, but I just gave him a glare before continuing my pacing, "Edward knows how to take care of himself, and I don't think he'd want you following him around, he needs time to think. We all do." He said, putting his arms around Esme's grieving shoulders.

"What's there to think about?" I shouted, throwing my arms into the air in exasperation, "All we've got to do is track whoever took her, and get her back!"

"It's not that simple, Jasper; you of all people should know that." Carlisle said in a bitter voice; impatience, sadness and resignation his dominant emotions. Emmett hung his head, sorrow etched in his face, while Rosalie tried to control the guilt that was slowly building in her mind as Esme sobbed heartbreakingly and Alice's grief as she struggled to look into the future, but coming up blank.

All of a sudden, I found this entire scene hilarious.

Mirth bubbled up my throat and I snorted, clapping my hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh as my eyes widened. But a single chuckle escaped, quickly becoming a torrent of hilarity, singing through my mind in a melody of fast, unbearably high-pitched notes

The sounds coming from my throat were that of pure maniacal humor. Carlisle's head flashed up to stare at me in shock, while Esme backed up a step, disturbed.

Suddenly Alice's eyes snapped open, a look of absolute rage on her snarling visage.

"_VICTORIA!"_ She roared as I collapsed to my knees, clutching my sides as pain lanced through my lungs as they struggled to suck in more air than was going out. Alice, little, beautiful, fiery Alice leaped like a wild cat to the top of a large tree behind me, her face transformed by rage.

I heard a loud shriek of maniacal laughter and a flaming-white blur leaped from tree to tree, singing in a baby voice:

_Poor little Cullens sitting around_

_While their little human's blood soaks into the ground_

_They cry and they weep, but poor little human; she can't hear a sound!_

Emmett and Rose snarled and leaped after her while Carlisle and Esme rushed to my side as I began to gasp painfully for unneeded air, scenarios from _1000 Ways to Die_ running through my mind.

"Jasper?" Esme shouted as my eyes bugged, my hands shaking into bone colored claws as I struggled to get to my feet, to get Victoria and protect Alice. I staggered as the laughs kept coming, seeming to grow in strength until even my throat seemed to feel a phantom pain.

"Jasper, hold still!" Carlisle shouted, concern in his eyes and mind, but then I heard Alice scream and my mind was swept clean of all thoughts.

Concentrating more that I ever had, I forced my mental barriers up as high as they would go, the mental walls slamming into a mental roof, muting the melodies of fear, pain, anger, amusement and apprehension so much that for almost the first time in my vampire life, I felt my own emotions, and only them.

A snarl far fiercer than any that had ever come from me ripped itself up my throat and quick as a flash, I was tearing through the forest, after Victoria. I saw her a couple miles away, her alabaster face smiling as she held Alice by the throat, while Emmett and Rose struggle to rise from the tangle of limbs they had become when she had thrown them.

Alice's eyes were wide with terror.

As Victoria bared her teeth, I felt my non-existing heart stop, and I pushed myself impossibly faster as she raised one clawed hand to kill my wife.

_"There was a barber and his wife,_

_And she was beautiful,_

_A foolish barber and his wife,_

_She was his reason and his life,_

_And she was beutifuuullll!"_

Victoria sang with a cackle, almost snarling the words as her pale claws descended towards my wife's neck. I felt all the agony and utter annihilating despair that Edward had been suffering since we found out Bella was possibly killed.

_"NOO!"_ I screamed, _"ALICE!"_

Suddenly out of nowhere, Alice was tossed backwards as Victoria went flying, this time it was her who was held by the throat, clawing ineffectively at the hand of Edward, who's eyes were fiercely black from thirst; the blackness of his eyes and the bruises under them only adding to his haunted, grim-reaper expression of absolute murderous loathing.

_"WHERE IS SHE?"_ Edward roared, snarling into Victoria's pale face, alive with the flashing crimson flames of eyes, lips and hair.

She hissed, baring her teeth in a snarl. "Why don't you ask that little mongrel pack of flee bitten dogs on the beach?" She spat, her hands still clawing those hands at her throat. "_They're_ the ones that attacked her,"

The melody of the song she was singing sank slowly into my head, the words coming unbidden to my tongue as I felt the emotion of the song rise in my chest, threatening to choke me with the sadness and anger of the singer. _"Poor thing, poor thing…" _

Edward's eyes went blank as he listened to her thoughts, while she clawed and snarled at him, and his grip on her neck slackened in shock just enough for her to get free. In a flash, she was gone, only a red and white blur to be seen as I rushed over to Alice and pulled her into a tight embrace as she sobbed in relief.

My relief that she was ok, and the fact of how close the call had been overwhelmed my mind, and I found myself resentful of Edward letting Victoria go, wanting to rip her apart myself for threatening my wife.

It was only then, after the confrontation was over, that Carlisle and Esme, (who were the slowest runners in the family) gained the clearing. Esme ran to Alice and me, and I opened my mouth to speak, but a second later she was past us, helping Rosalie and Emmett to their feet.

_What, no motherly concern?_ I thought sarcastically, angrily, though I didn't really feel like being babied by a woman who knew nothing of anyone's true nature; she preferred to assume that because we were turned at the age of teenagers, that we would stay in that mental set; dependent on the parent, yet yearning for freedom.

But Alice and I were different from the rest, in that respect too.

I had fought in a war, seeing human savagery first hand, and on the other end of the spectrum, the infinite kindness of a single soul.

Alice, condemned by her parents and society to an Asylum, had learned to live in darkness and desolation; her only comfort those around her, some raving, some screaming, some crying, some jabbering gibberish, and some silent, staring into the dark at some unknown and unknowable horror that only they could see.

And Alice had survived it all; it had strengthened and matured her, beyond her years, and while on the outside she appeared happy, jittery and hyper, on the inside, she was as serious as could be.

As we stood in our silent embrace in the rustle of the forest, I heard Rosalie complaining about her cloths being ruined and shook my head in sadness.

The only major lasting impression from the Asylum left on Alice had been the state of the clothes all the invalids were forced to wear. Rags and soiled gray gowns, patchworked with threads of hair; stitches of clothing and ragged blankets that barely kept the cold away on the mildest of nights.

When that mysterious vampire had changed her, she had immediately ransacked the nearest clothing store for the most gaudy, beautiful dresses that were everything the asylum's apparel was not.

I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, wanting to kill everyone who had put my darling Alice through such abuse as to make her obsessive compulsive when it came to cloths to this scale.

**. .**

**(2/24/11) ok people! Finished this chap at 9:12 PM! Once again, it's been 8 days since last update! WOOT! Don't expect me to make this a trend though—writer's block, bored-ness, or my sis being on the computer can seriously limit my writing time.**

**Ended on a little explanation / sentimental note there for Alice. Anyone like my reasoning for her OCD when it comes to clothes? I think it makes sense. No idea how old Alice is (in vamp years) anyone know when she was born? Or at least what century?**


	23. Dhampirs and Ghosts

**True Vamp Chapter 23: Dhampirs and Ghosts**

**Chapter quote: (Again) **_**"The Dhampir knows the Lugat"**_

**Chapter Song(s): ****"**_**The Chase**_**", "**_**Sleepers, awake!**_**" and "**_**Ghosts**_**" from the Torchwood Soundtrack.**

**Last update: 2/24/11**

**Updated: 2/4/11, 9:20 PM**

*****Quoted from Wikipedia (yes, I know that information is almost never right, but I want what **_**people**_** believe about vampires, not some cold, hard facts!)**

***Note: a tribute to the Doctor Who Classic actor Nicholas Courtney, who played the Brigadier in the Classics, died at the age of 81 on 2/22/11. Though i am too young to ever have watched the classics, he is nevertheless a part of the Doctor Who family; he will be missed.**

**. .**

**(B-PoV)**

"A _what?" _I asked incredulously, staring at Ash in shock. _A damper? Is that what he said?_

Ash snorted in laughter, "No, no, a _Dhampir,_ D-h-a-m-p-i-r, have you never heard of them?"

I shook my head, mystified.

"Well, as I said already, Philip Lecatro was the one who discovered we had pheromones when he was researching and studying how a Dhampir was created; humans and animals that are only _half_ vampire."

"Well, how does that work? Wait, was that woman who took the guy's lighter a Dhampir?" I asked, interested as we walked past yet another set of doors, tramping down another flight of metal stairs.

"Yes, actually, she is. Her name's Scarlet, and she works in the kitchens, with some of the other Dhampirs that are employed here; only Dhampirs, humans, and others can work in the kitchens—if a vampire took even a step within the boundary zone—_Kaboom!"_

Ash made a noise like an explosion, hands mimicking fire shooting up, and I struggled to keep a straight face.

"So, what makes Dhampirs special? Why are they only half vampire? How do you make them?" I asked, intrigued. We turned a corner, and cooking smells filled the air, along with the tantalizing scent of blood.

"Well, for one, they have the appearance of a regular human, they are just pale, like us, but not as much. They usually have black or brown hair, their eyes are usually black, without the flecks of color, they are very graceful, and their ears are pointy, like ours—"

"Wait, wha? My ears aren't pointy!" I said, reaching up to trace the outline of my ear.

Ash smirked, "another Adolec thing. See, look," he said, and moved his thick curly black hair out of the way and for the first time I saw his ears—his very pointy ears.

I stared in shock for a second before bursting out laughing. Ash rolled his eyes and continued speaking.

"In olden times, they were known as the 'Fair Folk', or elves—not the short Christmas ones— but the tall, magical beings that were heralded as spirits of nature, or demigods. Many of them have legends and fairytales based off of them. Robin Hood, Hercules, and Orpheus— whose wife was actually kidnapped by a Shade, who was jealous of his fortune, —and others whose names are only known to our kind."

I nodded, taking in this information as Ash continued to speak: "Dhampirs are known throughout the world; wherever there are myths and legends of us, there are those of the Dhampir. Often times they are portrayed as the half-mortal children of vampires, who then kill the local vampire, thus freeing the town or village from their 'nightly terror'.

"There is one fact that most of the myths get right: "**In Albanian folklore, the dhampir is the son of the **_**karkanxholl**_** or the **_**lugat**_**. If the karkanxholl sleeps with his wife, and she is impregnated with a child, the offspring is called **_**dhampir**_** and has the unique ability to discern the karkanxholl; from this derives the expression **_**the dhampir knows the lugat**_**."*****

"Most Dhampirs are humans that were family, friends, or husbands or wives of those turned, and were around the turned vampire for extnded periods of time; not just sitting in a room with them for an hour a day for five days or anything like that; to become a Dhampir you must be in almost constant contact with a vampire, or be in a room extensivly that the vampire was in for long periods of time.

"If a vampire is feeling strong emotions, it can increase the amount of pheromones released into the air, which can drasticaly speed up the conversion rate. It is a gradual change; they will become faster, stronger, and keener of sense, but they will not need to drink blood nor will they grow wings or fangs."

"Wouldn't the person freak out though, once they found out their loved one was a vampire? And that they were turning into something half-vampire?" I asked, curious.

Ash's browd furrowed, and he frowned as if in concentration. "Haven't I told you this yet?" he asked, a slight hint of panic and apprehension in his voice.

I shook my head, and wondered what the matter was. "What's wrong?" I asked, leaning towards him in concern.

But Ash held his hands up, "Nothing, nothing…I just…forgot… is all." he said slowly, haltingly, before turning and quickly continuing on the way to the bottom of the ship where they served the food to our kind.

But I knew he was lying.

**. . . **

**(Dante/ Dane PoV)**

I smiled as Charlie Swan knocked on the door. Today was his second appointment, which was scheduled once every week. I had traced the surname _Swan_ in an attempt to find out if he was descended from the supernatural.

Turns out, I was right. His great-great-great grandmother had been a bitten Hybrid-Lycan, and his great-great-great grandfather had been none other than the ancient Quileute chief Taha Aki himself, who it seems, was still alive today, living with his clan of Lycans and wolf-shifters down south near the amazons.

It was truly amazing. That meant that Charlie Swan was part shapeshifter, and part Hybrid-Lycan. And so was his daughter, who was now, (according to Scarlet,) a vampire.

Of course, I couldn't tell Charlie this; he'd think his shrink had gone mad himself!

Instead, I smiled pleasantly as I invited him in, wincing only slightly at the bright light in the hallway, "Hello Charlie, I hope you've had luck with the search. Any news?" I asked, trying to hide my self-disgust at lying to him when I knew the fate of his daughter.

**. . . **

**(Victoria PoV)**

I struggled to keep up the mask of happiness as I raced away from the Cullen's, but memories bombarded my mind at the sight of the mind reader that killed James.

_Seeing James and Laurent for the first time; immediately noticing how James' crimson eyes lit up at the sight of her…_

_Traveling on an old ship on our way to America, the both of us, with fingers intertwined as we slow danced on the blood-soaked deck of the __**Brigadier**__, the warship we'd hijacked…_

But as I ran I also remembered the bloody scene of what remained of _Bella Swan_. I thought the name with venom, but also with sympathy; her loved one too, had abandoned her. I knew it was unfair to think of it that way, but lately that's all I could think about. James had gone to phoenix against my better judgment: I knew that the family would try and save the girl, and that if they found him with her they would kill him.

But he hadn't listened; instead he had gone, not just to play his game with his prey, but also to slake his ever-present thirst for revenge against the stepsister who had commanded all of his mother's attention after James' alcoholic father had killed his beloved little sister, Evangeline.

The thoughts of James tore open the scared, ragged edges of my heart and a sob burst up my throat as I remembered the faint hope I had held when I ran to the ballet studio, and then my mind-numbing horror and desolation when I saw that it was almost burned down, and inside, the ashes of a dead vampire.

Venom burned in my eyes, unable to escape as I relived the memory:

_Shaking uncontrollably, I stumbled, and then ran to kneel by the pile of grey dust that reeked of burned vampire. I reached out a trembling hand, and scooped some of the iridescently grey powder into my hand, staring in shell-shocked confusion as it trickled through my fingers._

_The realization hit me then, and my hand clenched into a fist, squeezing so hard it almost hurt, as if I were trying to bring him back by compressing his remains back into form._

_A high, keening wail escaped my throat, mingling with the call of emergency sirens headed toward us…_

_Towards me. There was no one else here; I was all alone now…_

**. . . **

**(Edward PoV**

I couldn't move at all as Victoria's memory filled my mind:

_The huge wolves raced back and forth in the clearing, snarling and whimpering as they tried to scent the blood that was quickly soaking into the ground; their massive heads tilted toward the dirt, ears cocked forward and tails whipping back and forth unconsciously as they sought their prey._

_One of the wolves had shifted back, and he held in his hands the tattered remains of a jacket: a jacket that was spotted with blood. The man's face was that of a mingling of despair and rage, and the look in his black eyes was one of desolation._

_Suddenly his gaze hardened, and he when he spoke the two wolves ceased their sniffing and turned to face him, tails held high._

_"We were right to attack her," He said, black eyes filled with resignation, "She was a threat; but now she is gone; dead to the world of the living. I'll have to tell Charlie that she's dead; no one else with be burdened with that duty. I just wish I…"_

_The Alpha's eyes popped wide as I let out an unconscious hiss of pleasure. I let out a cackle and leapt to another tree as the wolves below bristled and snarled at my undetected approach; lately I've been able to sneak up on just about anyone, including other vampires, and even these dogs!_

_I smirked as I leapt from treetop to treetop, away from the wolves who attempted to chase me, but I made no sound, and as I raced even farther into the dawn, my mask slipped, for a second revealing the devastation in my eyes that only the rising sun would witness._

A burning wave of rage and self-hatred shot throughout my body as I watched Sam Uley try to justify killing my angel.

_No, not my angel; not anymore, at least she is in heaven now, where nothing can hurt her; she is really an angel now, just as surely as I will be a demon when I die, _I thought despairingly.

_I bet she hates me for what I did to her; maybe her spirit will stay, to punish me... I would take any pain she thought I deserved, and more, if only it meant I could see her one last time… to tell her I'm sorry, and that it was all my fault…_

Suddenly I heard Esme give out a shriek, and I whirled around as all of my family shouted or screamed, and there, behind me, stood the ghost of Bella Swan.

**. . . **

**AN: ****Woot! 8-day update, again! I am on a roll! So! How loved it? Who is soooooo confused and possibly slightly angry right now? Who's asking, "What the heck is going on? What the heck did I **_**miss?"**_

**(Evil Cackle) you'll just have to wait and find out! Sorry it was so short, but I had to rush to have it finished on time. So: **_**8-day updates=shorter chapters**_**. Not that it's a bad thing; I'll be updating more, and you know about when to check in. not saying it'll be 8 days between **_**every**_** update, but I'll make an effort; besides, I need a timed schedule for this. Keeps me focused. **

**Any thoughts on Ash's strangeness in this chap? Re-read previous chaps, and you may spot it… not saying exactly what **_**it**_** is though.**

**As always, Review!**

**Ohh, and btw, I won't be asking for a lot of reviews for the next 4-5 chaps, seeing as I had AN's up until at least 28, which people then reviewed and now can't review the actual chaps. However, for you people that still **_**can**_** review, do so!**

**AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON MY POLL! My profile's been updated, and you can find the update info for my other stories.**

**For Torchwood and Doctor Who fans: check out my one-shot collections, "Ode To the Doctor[s]" and "The trials of Torchwood"!**

**Review Password: "Brigadier"**

**Reviewers excuesed from reveiwing, having lareayd reviewed a previous, AN version of this chap (thanks!): Bakerusaf, Wolflover1966, Crazyperson17, and Obsession-iz-a-good-thing. thank you for your reviews and support for this story! *hands out cookies***


	24. Mental States

**True Vamp Chapter 24: Mental States Chapter Song: "Angel Of Harlem" and "Mysterious Ways" by U2Last Updated: 3/4/11**

**Reviews: 207**

**Disclaimer****: I Own Nothing. Nothing but what is mine (OC's, original species, ideas, inventions, companies/agencies, etc)**

**Holy friken crap! I just remember that this song is my theme song for **_**Lasher**_** from the Lives Of The Mayfair Witches series by Anne Rice! Woot!**

**Ok people, I'm not sure if I've said this yet, but for the importance of this story, we're all pretending that **_**Twilight**_** and **_**New Moon**_** took place in 2010, and now, 2011 (we're in the present time! finally!). Though Bella is/was still eighteen in this, Carlisle, Edward, and the Cullen's are all five years older, in vampire years.**

**Just so you don't get confused.**

**(E-PoV)—(Six Months Later)**

I smiled wistfully at Bella as her specter stood in a corner, watching me soundlessly. In her glowing white arms she gently rocked a silent infant, while her wings were folded tightly against her back, the shining white feathers occasionally shifting in an invisible breeze.

When her ghost—or rather, angel—had come back to haunt me, there had been some obvious, drastic changed to her appearance which only supported my theory and desperate hope that she was an angel and had gone to heaven.

She was more beautiful than she had ever been in life: her features and figure rivaling that of any supermodel, especially in her flowing white plain dress; her skin glowed with a light like that of the moon, her eyes were a brilliant sky blue, her hair was longer, and she had two massive, feathered wings that sprouted from her back, able to lift her gracefully into flight, I assumed, if she so wished.

But she had denied me even the pleasure of seeing that.

In fact, the most she had ever done since she returned to earth was glare at me in silence. She never spoke a word, nor made any sound at all.

My eyes strayed, not for the first time, to the sleeping newborn she held in her arms as I remembered the past months.

_For the first few weeks, all she had done was glare at me and my family, head held high as she watched us—well, everyone but me that is—run around, looking for an answer as to her sudden appearance. Carlisle attempted to research it in his vast collections of books, but only came up with scenarios where other vampires or other supernatural beings, so maddened with grief over the loss of a loved one, began to imagine that they had come back in the form of a spirit._

_All of these cases he dismissed as the subject being mad, but then pondered on the possibility that we were all suffering something akin to mass hysteria._

_Not many months after her return, as Esme was remembering her human daughter who had died shortly after birth, and filled with such grief that she wondered why Bella could come back, and not her Annie, then we heard throughout the house the cry of an infant._

_All of us had rushed downstairs as I noticed that Bella's ghost had moved, and in the living room, we saw her standing transparently in front of the TV, facing us silently, with a small transparent crying baby in her arms._

_Esme, with the perfect memory of her daughter's face burned into her mind, instantly recognized her as her dead daughter Annie, and with a cry of shock and joy, raced across the room to embrace her child's spirit, only to have Bella and the child dissipate into mist before her to reaper in another part of the room; Bella looking at her coldly before smiling down at the baby, who quieted at her gaze, falling asleep in her arms._

_It was only then that I saw how pale the child's skin was, and that, as Bella rocked her back and forth, that tiny little baby angel wings sprouted from her back too._

_Another angel in a house of vampires._

_Over time though, Bella's cold gaze slowly melted, and occasionally she would smile in Jasper's direction, forgiveness in her eyes as he gazed at her in guilty sorrow; Emmett too, she smiled at, while he took all the time he could to be around her, trying to get her to laugh and smile like he once could, and soon after that, she would look kindly at Rosalie, who saw this with guilt._

_The next person she smiled at was Esme, who was around her constantly, staring wistfully and desperately at her angelic daughter who she could no longer hold. When Esme saw her smile, she slowly reached out her arms, silently asking permission, though it took all her control to not try and grab her child from her arms every instant she was around my angel._

_The first few times Bella ignored her, and instead turned her attention to the child itself, silently playing with the baby in a corner while Esme watched with longing._

_The next one was Alice, who she silently chuckled at, while the pixie in question attempted to get me to change out of my old clothes into some ridiculously expensive ones she had found, made of the loveliest of velvets that she seemed to adore so much for its softness and beauty._

_Alice smiled back at her, her face lighting up for once in a long, long time._

_But she still did not smile at me._

_Out of all of my family, it was, oddly enough, Carlisle and I whom she would not forgive._

Tonight Carlisle was working on doing some more research on ghost hauntings at the public library, and I slowly got up to go downstairs, where I knew Esme was longing to see her daughter.

Knowing that Bella would follow me—she always did, even when I had to hunt; making sure to turn the baby Annie's eyes away from the sight—I walked quickly down the stairs, turning five times as I traipsed down the spiral staircase before passing the sparsely stocked kitchen, and into the living room, where Rosalie was watching the news with only slight interest.

"_Meanwhile, riots and uprisings continue to flash across the East as others follow the example of—"_

Suddenly bored, Rose clicked the channel to check the weather. _"Looks like it may finally warm up this week, but don't break out the shorts and tank tops yet folks; there's an 80% chance of snow this weekend!"_

Click. Another channel. Click, click, click, and then an odd, descending beeping sound noise as she turned it off.

Behind me I heard nothing, but through Esme's mind I saw that, as always, Bella had followed me, and was standing there, staring at Esme with kind eyes.

But Esme's eyes were locked on the face of her daughter, and the yearning to hold her in her arms was almost overpowering.

Suddenly Bella shifted her weight, and with a blinding smile, she held out her arms, holding Annie out to Esme in an unmistakable invitation.

Esme's instant leap from the couch startled Rosalie so badly she snarled, whirling around to look for a threat; only to see Esme cradling her ghostly child in her arms, the baby gurgling happily as she floated a few inches above Esme's cold skin.

Esme looked up at Bella's angel with such happiness and joy that upstairs, I heard Jasper start to laugh.

**. . . **

**(B-PoV)**

"C'mon, Markus! You fight like a girl!" I taunted teasingly as we slowly circled each other in the _**Night Legacy's **_Training & Education area, more commonly know as the Tred rooms.

Markus smiled widely, showing his fanged teeth, "At least I don't fight like a man!" he said back, and while I was distracted, trying to figure out if he meant that as an insult or a complement, he leapt forward, arms reaching for my throat.

I ducked just in time, and spun around, reaching out with my mind to try and read his closed psyche while keeping my own thoughts under lock and key.

He wasn't behind me, and I quickly whirled around again, eyes searching—_Wham!_ Something heavy landed on me from above and I tried to dodge out of the way with a hiss of surprise, but two hands grabbed me, and Markus' wings enfolded me in darkness.

"No fair! No flying allowed when you're against Fledglings, remember?" I said laughing, before pushing him off of me as the group of Adolescs and other Fledglings in the lines waited, some patiently, (and some not so patiently) for their turn to show off their fighting and defensive skills.

"What? Can't handled the master of doom?" he said flauntingly, striking a pose, and I rolled my eyes. Without making a comment, I silently jumped to my feet, ninja style from my place on the ground and walked past him to the now familiar door that led to the blood-kitchens to get a drink.

As part of our defensive training, all of us had to fight two opponents after we got up in the afternoon before we did anything else. Seeing that I was leaving, Markus abandoned the stage and ran after me and I smiled as he easily caught up to me. I walked down the long halls that felt more like home to me than my old house back in Forks ever had.

Before, I had been smiling; but now, my thoughts turned somber and serious. Seeing this, Markus interrupted himself in a joke he had been about to make, and said instead, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, trying to appear cheery. "Nothin—"

But Markus interrupted me, "If you say 'nothing' I'm going to keep badgering you until you tell me what's bothering you." he threatened, and for an instant, he reminded me vaguely of Emmett. I winced, and then pushed the feeling away.

Markus was nothing like Emmett; he was his own person, and he was just protective is all, but then again, so were all of our kind.

"I was just remembering my home in Forks," I said, feeling sorrow overwhelm me for a second, "And my dad, Charlie."

"You miss him, don't you?" he asked, slinging his arm over my shoulder and pulling me close; I felt comforted immediately. Markus had become one of my best friends since my first night on the _**Night Legacy**_, along with most of the other vampires.

Our minds were still closed from the fight, so I let mine open, taking down the mental walls so he could hear my thoughts.

_Don't worry,_ he said, taking down his own barriers as well, _It gets better after awhile. You're just homesick is all. I remember when I was first turned, I missed my family so much, I actually went back after a couple of years to see them…_

His mental voice trailed off, and I wondered what he had found.

_When I went back, I found out that my sister, Maria, had gotten married to this other teacher who worked at the school she taught at, and that she now had twins._

_My older brother, David, had enlisted in the military and was serving in Iraq… He was killed a couple of months after Maria's wedding._

_My parents had gotten a divorce, and then my mom got re-married; apparently they had fought over whether to keep looking for me so much that they separated…_

I felt a wave of sympathy wash over me, and wondered when I would go back to see my family, if ever.

_So, what's your story?_ Markus asked to distract himself from the pain. _You've hardly mentioned anyone from your past, except your father._

I smiled sadly, before launching into my story.

_Well, when I was really little, my parents got divorced, and my mom took me to live with her in Phoenix. Every year I would go to my dad's and spend the summer there. Most of the time we were either at La Push's beach, or fishing with my dad's friend Billy Black, and his son Jacob._

I laughed quietly, _I remember this one time, when I was seven and Jake was five, that we went to the beach and made sandcastles with his sisters, Rebecca and Rachel all day, and we accidentally made it too close to the water, so we were all panicking, trying to keep the water away from our castle._

_The water started getting closer and closer, so Rachel and Rebecca tried digging a mote in front, while me and Jake made a wall of sand, but the water kept getting closer and closer. Just as the water was coming up to sweep away the castle we had worked so hard on, Jacob dove in front of the castle to block the water with his body._

_Unfortunately for him, we weren't supposed to get wet, and he got covered in sandy water, but he __did__ save the castle! Sarah, their mom, had turned her back to get some snacks for us out of her bag, but when she heard us all cheering, she turned around to see me giving a soaking wet but proud Jacob a big hug, while his sisters laughed at his clothes._

I laughed, remembering the expression on her face. She had been torn between yelling at us and laughing at Jake's proud expression and soaking wet, sand-covered clothes.

_After awhile though, I got tired of spending my summer fishing and watching sports with my dad, probably from all the comments Renée—my mom—made about how much more fun it would be with her, so when I was ten I decided I didn't want to go there anymore, and except for a few visits, I stayed with my mom._

_Then she met Phil, and got married again. He played baseball, so he had to travel a lot, and she wanted to go with him so badly, that I decided I would go back to Forks and live there with my dad so mom would have more time with Phil._

_That was when I met __him. _I whispered with my thoughts as we entered the 'blood-kitchen'.

The kitchen wasn't much of one; it was more like a storage room. Gently swaying containers of animal blood lined the walls of a special compartment that kept it at body-temperature, while special tubes filled with oxygen kept it from going bad, amongst other complicated systems that replicated a living body so the blood stayed fresh. Of course, that was just for emergencies (though what emergency would need it, I don't know) and animals were penned up in closely watched enclosures farther down, lavishly fed and given every comfort available.

No humans were hunted on this ship; it was one of the safest placed in the world from vampire attacks, whether they were True, Hybrid, or another descendent.

When I had first seen this room on my first night here, I had compared it to a mad-scientists' lab, especially when I saw exactly who Mason was. **(=D)**

I had not noticed at first the small, pitch black dog that was lying, dozing in a shadowy, corner, but at the sound of my voice, he had gotten up, stretched, and then trotted over to greet me.

The little Chihuahua might have been unassuming under normal circumstances, with his neon green color and neatly trimmed nails; his only oddity would have been the nearly solid black of his fur (although there _was_ some graying white under his chin), but this dog was as far from normal as it was possible to get.

Folded closely against his back were two pitch-black bat-wings, about the same length as an eagle's; his teeth I saw, when he yawned, were pure white, and his canines (hmm, wouldn't all his teeth be called canines?) were super sharp and abnormally long; his black eyes had rainbow flecks of color in them.

Mason was a vampire Chihuahua.

At the time, I had been too shocked to do more than let out a nervous chuckle at the thought, but the second I did so, Mason growled deep in his throat, letting out a snarling yip so terrifying I had jumped away, afraid he was going to attack me.

Instead, the vampiric Chihuahua had rolled his eyes in a markedly human fashion, and turning his head derisively away, he pranced—actually pranced, like a horse—back to his corner where he once again melted into the shadows, only his eyes, with their iridescent rainbow flecks of colors showing in the dim light.

But things were different now; at first, I had been afraid to go near him, thinking he would try to bite me or something, while everyone else (including Ash, who seemed to be best friends with him) assured me that he just had to get used to me. It took some time, and in the beginning he was as wary of me as he was of all strangers, growling or trying to bite everytime my face got too close to his head, but, slowly, he had come to trust that I would not hurt him.

"Hey Mason! What'cha doin'? Come here buddy!" I called out with a wide smile, slapping my hands against my legs: immediately a flying black projectile shot from his usual corner, barking excitedly as I crouched down to pet him. Tail wagging furiously, he jabbed his head forward, trying to lick my face and I playfully pushed him away.

"Jeeze, dude! Your breath _still_ stinks! What _have_ you been eating?" I asked incredulously as he backed up before sitting down, tail still going a hundred miles per hour, watching me expectantly with wide, rainbowblack eyes.

The cause of his fetid breath was a mystery to me: whether it was a genetic thing for Chihuahua's he had kept during his turning, or if it was from lapping up blood and eating raw meat all night, that caused his breath to smell horrible.

He rolled his rainbowblack eyes at my comment, before turning around and leaping into the air; spreading his wings wide and with a yip, he sailed into the back room that led to the stairs to the deck below, where the animals were kept.

I smiled at his eagerness and bounded after him, with Markus in pursuit. I raced him down the stairs, (which were wide enough for four people to walk abreast) but of course he cheated, vaulting over the rail once he saw I was in the lead.

The only sound of his landing that I could hear was a low _clang_ of shoes on metal, and Mason's bark of excitement.

Half a second later, I reached the end and saw that we were not alone. Two people were already here, busy feeding in the soundproofed room (so that the other animals would not panic at the sounds of their kind struggling), and I saw Markus eyeing Vaun with a wistful expression through the glass window in the door.

I gave Markus an encouraging smile as I passed him on my way to the deer pen, hoping in the back of my mind that he would get up the courage to ask Vaun, though I knew his chances weren't very likely. Vaun, I was pretty sure, was straight, and I knew from the way that most women looked at him that he could have any that he wanted. But I still hoped; after all, if a stunningly beautiful Hybrid could fall for a plain human girl, why couldn't Vaun fall in love with Markus?

**. . . **

**(Jake PoV)**

I heaved out a heavy sigh as we plodded through the moonlit trees somewhere in, well; I wasn't even sure what state we were in. We stayed to the woods and unpopulated areas, keeping well away from the roads and towns.

"You ok Jake?" mom asked, and I nodded my head, wagging my tail half-heartedly as she walked beside me with Leah and Christine on the other side. Even in six months, it was hard to get used to fact that I had another sister; a sister who was half-vampire, and that my mother, who I had thought had died in a car wreck when I was seven, was still alive, and was a fully fledged vampire. _Literally._

She could fly.

I was soo jealous; not that I would admit it.

_Yeah, good luck with that; you admitted it just now._ Leah thought, slightly sarcastic, but with warmth behind it.

I rolled my black eyes and snorted through my muzzle.

_Yeah, but you're not going to tell, are you? _I said back, and she turned to look at me, and this time it was her who rolled her eyes.

_Not unless you want me to, or I can use it against you…_ she pondered, step-siding a puddle in the rain-soaked woods of 'Insert State Here'. Leah barked a laugh at that, and Christine frowned.

"What's the joke?" she asked, with a hint of jealously. Though she appeared older than her seven years, and at times was much mature than your average high school student, being a Dhampir did not alter her psyche so much to take away her personality.

And she was your average seven-year-old little sister most of the time.

I shook my head, to tell her it was nothing, and she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, misinterpreting my movement as, (I assumed,) a "you don't get to know" expression. I also saw, from the way her shoulders sagged and the way her feet slapped heavily on the ground that she was tired,

Leah nudged her with her shoulder, and with a soft bark, she lowered herself to the ground, inviting her to climb on.

Christine complied with a delighted laugh, her earlier anger evaporated as she clutched at Leah's long rainbow-black fur. Though she was half vampire (she had been born nine months after mom was changed, and since Dad was fully human, she had been born a part-human, part-vampire child; according to mom, this wasn't that uncommon) her eyes were the normal Quileute black, without the flecks of color like Mom had.

_Race you!_ Leah challenged, shifting her shoulders as a signal for Christine to hold on tightly; she complied, lying down to that her arms were almost wrapped around Leah's neck, with her bent knees gripping on either side, pressing against the top of Leah's hips.

I crouched low to the ground in preparedness, _As long as you're careful to not let her fall,_ I cautioned, worried for Christine, and Leah snorted, as if that were obvious.

_Would I _ever_ let her get hurt?_ She asked rhetorically, before pulling her legs in, and in an instant, she was off, rocketing through the trees with me in close pursuit. Behind us, I heard Mom laugh before launching herself into the air on nearly silent bat-like wings, racing us from overhead.

I smiled widely as I ran, thinking of what a strange family we were.

**. . . **

**AN: YES! I'm on Schedule still! 8 days between this and the last chap! Next chap'll be up next Sunday, 3/20/11!**

**So people, review! Tell me what you think has happened in the last (give or take a week) six months to our favorite supernaturals? **

**What do you think Ash is doing?**

**Where's Charlie?**

**What's happened to Angela and Mike?**

**What are our awesome agents at the Archangel Detective Agency working on?**

**Anyways, REVIEW! And for those who haven't, VOTE ON MY POLL!**

**~~Reviewers Excused: Random Person1997, crazyperson17, RLD Flame-point Callie-co, Analitica, and two anonemous Erica's. thank you for all of your reviews, and unless you choose to review ananymously, you can sit back, relax, and just enjoy!**

**. . . **

**RE:AN: ok people, i am getting IRRITATED! i have been sittng here since 9-ish, and it's 4:31, and NO ONE HAS REVIEWED! at least 15 PEOPLE have read this chap and NONE of you have REVIEWED! **

**REVIEW!**


	25. Charlie

**True Vamp Chapter 25: Charlie**

**RE:RE AN: ok peoples, it's 11:02Pm, 4/2/11, and this was suposed to have been updated 3/20/11, and the reason it HASNT been updated is because **_EVERY SINGLE TIME I TRIED TO UPDATE I WOULD GET " ERROR 2"! i've trtied hundreds of time between that sunday and today, and everytime it didnt work!_**chapter 26'll be up as soon as it's done, and for any script writers out there:**

**Scriptfrenzy . org -would you be willing to attermpt to write a 20,000 word script in a month? april 1st-30th!**

**RE:AN: 3/21/11 i would have updated yesterday but i think there was a server problem; kept getting an error message! right now i'm at school ;)**

**AN: Ok people, as you can tell, this chap is all (or at least mostly) about Charlie Swan! As you've surely noticed, there've been at least two previous chapters named after characters, which mainly focused on that character and what they were doing. Eventually, I'll do with for (maybe) all the Cullen's, the pack, my Vamps, some villains including Victoria and a certain group of Italians and Romanians…and of course, the ever-mysterious Seraphs!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own twilight. I own nothing but what I DO own, which I have already listed extensively in the past.**

**Chapter Song: "Burning In The Skies" by Linkin Park**

**Chapter Quote: "I'm swimming in the smoke, of bridges i have burned, so don't apologize, i'm losing what i don't deserve...what i don't deserve!"-Burning In The Skies by Linkin Park**

**Reviews: 209**

**. . . **

**(Charlie PoV)**

I frowned in concern at my computer in my new office—my new higher-tech-than-any-I'd-ever-seen-or-hope-to-work-in office. In the corner, the time was 10:46 PM, the date 3/21/11, and on screen, I heard shouts, the creaking of metal, and the rush of salt water as it was pored into over-heating reactors.

Suddenly the phone rang, making me jump and loose my focus as I watched the valiant efforts of the workers to cool the nuclear materials.

"Hello?" I asked, turning my attention back to my computer screen as I answered.

A sudden cheer erupted from the monitor as the salt-water stopped whatever nuclear material it was from a potentially deadly meltdown.

_"Charlie?"_

A smile spread across my face as I recognized the voice. "Hey Dane! How're you doing?" I asked.

_"I'm doing good, you?"_

"The same. Have you heard about what happened in Japan?"

_"Charlie, who hasn't already? Why?"_

"All the A.D.A's are going to start sending support teams and necessary things like food, water, clothing and medicine, and we're gathering donations to send, and I wanted to know if you or anyone else was planning to send anything?"

_"Oh, I was already told about that by a friend; she and the others are already headed over there to see what they can do."_

I felt a cold wave wash over me, and a sense of foreboding. "They know what they're doing, right? Are they professionals in this kind of thing?" I asked in concern, wondering where my nervousness had come from.

_"Don't worry Charlie; they've done this kind of thing hundreds of times. — Why? Do you think something's going to happen?"_

By the second sentence, Dane's voice had gained a new sense of urgency, and I wondered if he felt the same uneasiness as I did. But I shook my head, not wanting him to worry.

"No, no, I was just thinking about something else." I said, denying my earlier apprehension.

_"Ok, well, I got to go, tell me how the game goes, alright? Bye." _Dane said.

"Bye," I said, but he had already hung up.

I sighed, remembering what had gotten me here in the first place.

Ever since I had started therapy with Doctor Dane Harkness, we had become fast friends, and our friendship had continued even after I left his sessions and joined the A.D.A after my new boss (on a recommendation by Merek,) sent me a letter requesting that I attend one of their Recruitment Drives that tested the abilities and knowledge of all potential recruits.

At first I had hesitated to go; it would mean moving away from Forks, and even the thought of leaving temporarily from the one place that Bella could still be alive almost made me decline, but both Billy, Harry, _and_ Dane encouraged me to go, telling me that it would be like starting over; and, as Dane reminded me, it would give me enough influence to start another search, if need be.

And so I had relented, after a week of all three telling me that it was in my best interest to leave, that I would move on to bigger and better things than I ever could here. Dane was especially adamant about this after I told him about a dream/nightmare I had had on the night before my departure.

_The night sky was hardly even dark; cities lit up blindingly bright shrouded the stars in their neon embrace, hiding them from view and turning the sky an ashen deep blue._

_Suddenly a streamlined car shot past me, looking like something out of a sci-fi movie with its high-tech design and speed; on its side was the emblem of the Archangel Detective Agency: two 'A's with feathered wings rising out of the curve to cross over where the horizontal center line would usually be, separated by a 'D' made to look like a handcuff, with the other cuff dangling off to the side._

_Then I was in the car, and I was in the driver's seat. In front of me was your average steering wheel, and behind it, your not-so-average dashboard, which was covered in a complex array of buttons, knobs, and digital displays._

_My hands reached out of their own accord, and as if by instinct, I turned knobs, flipped switches, and pushed buttons, listening to the engine's increased pitch as I watched the digital readouts carefully._

_Then there was another pair of hands joining mine as they too pushed buttons and flipped switches, typing in commands with pale, sure hands. I looked up, (knowing that the car was steering itself with almost no supervision) and saw that Dane was sitting next to me, black eyes glittering with an unnatural light, and when he flashed me a smile I saw that he had vampire fangs, but oddly enough, these did not surprise or unsettle me at all._

_Suddenly there was a loud shriek of metal and I looked through the windshield to see that in front of us, two cars had collided primarily and more cars, with their sensors disabled (though how I knew that, I don't know) had crashed headlong into the wreckage amidst screams of panic and pain._

_My hand slammed down on the Autopilot-Disabler, located on the back of the wheel, and an instant later I had wrenched the steering wheel around, safety buckles straining against my body's momentum as I struggled to dodge the traffic spinning out of control around me as people panicked and initiated their Manual Control without knowing what they were doing._

_In the rear-view display, I saw that behind us on a steep hill (that hadn't been there, I was sure) an old dark green Suburban was careening down the hill, it's back end swinging wildly as the driver tried in vain to get it under control._

_Dane hadn't seen it yet, and I felt panic fill me, "Dane! watch out!" I tried to shout but it was too late; the large car had already collided with his side door._

_Instead of a huge explosion of crunching metal and shattering glass and bones as I expected, all that happened was the window cracked in a spider-web of streaks, and the green Suburban bounced away to disappear over the side of the road._

_I sighed in relief, but then the car screeched to a halt, and then we were both standing outside, pointing two super-tech guns at a ragged-clothed, hulking man, featured hidden by a strange mask, the features distorted blackly and the eyes made of fire._

_The man let out a full-throated roar and fired the two machine guns he held in both hands on the scrambling crowd around him, who erupted into even more panicked screams._

_Calmly, professionally, Dane looked at me out of the corner of his eyes and flicked his head up slightly, and together we stood shoulder-to-shoulder and in synch, began to fire systematically at the man, who I knew without a doubt was a member of the **Apocalypstions. **_

_Dane shot off the trigger mechanism off of the left gun, while I took the right, blowing the trigger into smithereens, along with the man's finger; with a howl of pain and rage, the unknown Apocalypstion threw his guns down, and charged at us, the mask's fake hair streaming out like a river of blood behind his head._

_The second he would have reached us, he was gone, and we were standing in an office. All around us, people cheered and clapped, and the walls were covered with the A.D.A. logo, and when I looked outside, I saw that the sky was still the deep blue of night, and floating above the city, like thousands of living stars, small points of light hovered and zipped about. _

_All the buildings around us were covered in signs for Archangel, and in the streets people danced and sang anthems to the brave men and women who protected them and the whole world from all threats…_

A sudden, jaw-cracking yawn interrupted my thoughts, and I tried to blink away the fog that was clouding my mind, eyes rolling slightly in a sudden drowsiness.

Looking around, I saw that most of my colleagues had either left or were dozing in their chairs, desks littered with papers and computers showing a variety of personal screensavers.

With another yawn, I pushed up from my desk, shuffled my own papers into a neat stack, dropping them into my desk and shutting the computer off. Slinging my coat over my shoulder, I shook the shoulder of Daniel Cutter, who mumbled something about demon Chihuahuas before startling awake.

"Wha-? What's going on? Where am I?" He asked blearily, looking around as if he thought he was in trouble. I chuckled, though I was tired too.

"It's eleven," I told him, "Quitin' time."

I waited for him in the elevator, holding the door open, and when he was ready, I pushed the button to go to the lobby.

It was then that I heard metallic screeching, and looking across the room, I saw a pale woman with flaming hair wrench open the opposing elevator doors, the ones that led to the upper offices.

Daniel gave out a shout of fear, and the woman looked up with a wicked smile, and even in the dim lighting, I could see that her eyes were blood red and almost glowing.

"_It's her! Its that thing from the video!"_ Daniel gasped, but I could only stare in shock as the woman bounded towards us, the slowly closing elevator doors the only thing in her way.

Suddenly the fog lifted from my mind, and my arm lashed out as I jabbed the lobby button frantically, while pushing the alarm button simultaneously. Alarms screamed throughout the building, and the elevator was bathed in eerie red light as the doors shut with a sharp _clang._

I sighed in relief, glad to know that five inches of steel separated us from that dangerous woman, whoever she was, and safe with the knowledge that guards were on their way.

_RIIIIPPPP! SCREEEEEEECCCCCHHHHH!_

Like fingernails on a chalkboard, the sound of tearing metal filled the confined space, grating against my eardrums painfully. Beside me, Daniel was staring at shock at the doors in front of us.

I watched in fascinated horror as the steel doors buckled inwards under unimaginable force, screeching and ripping in explosions of sound, and above it, the rancorous, maniacal laughing of the woman.

**. . . **

**(Jasper PoV)**

Blazing joy flowed into my mind from down stairs, and I started to laugh as the light, bubbly feeling consumed me for a second, but after I realized what was happening, I shrugged off the emotion.

Shaking my head, I looked at Alice. She nodded, and once again I let the emotion of tranquility permeate the air around us, without actually touching us.

I smiled thinly; lately, I've been able to block Edward's access to my mind and Alice's, using my ability to project an emotion into the air around us, which confused Edward's mind reading so that, for almost the first time in a long, long time, our thoughts were private.

Which was a very good thing, considering what we were talking about.

"Are you sure?" I breathed, keeping my voice so low that no on but Alice could have possibly heard it.

She nodded. "They've never shown up in any of my visions, even right now, I can _see_ Esme, Rosalie and Edward downstairs, and Esme looks like she's holding a baby, but _there's nothing there!"_

My brow furrowed, "But that doesn't make sense; if I walked down there right now, I would be able to see them—have we tried a camera yet?" I asked, but she had already seen my question and had zipped from the room before I was even done my sentence.

Listening, I heard Alice rustling through her many drawers, before a small feeling of victory shot through me when she found it. Sly, sneaky caution flowed from her mind to mine and I followed her emotions in my mind as she weaved her way around the spiral stairs and into the living room.

Hearing her distinctive laugh, I heard her chattering cheerily in Esme's general direction, but our adoptive mother only had eyes for her little 'angel'.

Alice then redirected her happy chattering in Edward's direction, telling him about some of the newest fashion trends and how she would have to go on another shopping trip if she was going to keep up.

I grimaced at that, glancing around our room; in one corner, dozens of clear boxes of "Silly-Bands" in every shape, size and color rested there, with half of the boxes glowing dimly in multicolored neon in the moonlight. In another, shoeboxes, stacked one-atop the other, all of them filled with Uggs.

On top of and around those, paraphernalia of ages past cluttered the room: fashion magazines yellowed with age; ball gowns and dresses from Alice's time, and an entire wall was taken up by portraits she had painted, all of them visions she had had at one time or other, some of them hadn't even happened yet.

Downstairs, I heard the _click, click, click,_ of Alice's digital camera, and she came sprinting up the stairs again, stirring up a light breeze with the speed of her passage.

Alice sat down next to me on the bed, and I felt the slight coolness of her arm compared to the enveloping warmth of the blanket, which was slowly cooling to our body temperature. "Did it work?" I whispered to her, and she pushed a button on the small camera, pushing some arrows to scroll through the photos.

I leaned over to get a better look.

The first picture was taken from the stairs, and Esme was sitting on the couch, arms cradled tenderly around air.

The second was from in front of the TV, and it showed a similar side-view of Esme, while Edward watched an empty corner of the room.

The third and last one was taken looking directly at Esme, who was smiling proudly at the camera, hold up empty hands for the camera to see, _Lion King_ style.

"What does it mean?" I whispered, but deep down, I knew what it meant. I had seen enough of it in the time and traumas of the war.

**. . . **

**AN: wow, this was short. Finished this at 9:00PM (exactly) on Tuesday, 3/15/11. I would have continued, but I wanted to save the next parts for another chapter… and to get you people to REVIEW!**

**I've gotten a grand total of **_**two**_** reviews for chap 24, and I know that at least 20+ people read it! I mean c'mon people! All you have to do is click a button and type!**

**~Make sure you vote and review! ~**

**~Or a shoe I'll throw at you! ~**

**~If I don't update soon,~**

**~I'll probably get stabbed with a spoon~**

**~So review, ~**

**~Or I cant update~**

**~And If I can't update~**

**~Someone will kill me with a spoon, ~**

**~Or a rabid raccoon,~**

**~So review, ~**

**~And I wont die, ~**

**~And you can read more about my favorite Vampire guy! ~**

**review password: ARCHANGEL**

**Reviewers excused: Vaneesa85 , barcelona crow vampgirl , crazyperson17 , tasheluvwolfpack , (thanks for the PM about chocoholic u-know-who), an anonymous ERICA, and my good friend, RLD Flame-point Callie-co.-thanks for your reviews! i hope you like this chap**


	26. The Rebellion: Part Five

**True Vamp Chapter 26: The Rebellion, Part Five**

**AN: I WON SCRIPT FRENZY! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!**

**And for anyone who **_**hasn't**_** noticed yet, I've adopted a story!**

**Reviews: 213**

**Chapter Quote: "~It's gettin' hot in here~" (lol)**

**Chapter Song: Pale, by Within Temptation**

**(Aoife PoV)**

"So, where are we going now?" Jordan asked, and I grimaced at his impatience.

"I already told you earlier; if you paid attention, you would know." I snapped irritably as my headache grew in intensity; the city's smoke seemed to be irritating it more, and to add to the terribleness and pain, a log-cutting company was only blocks away.

"Ugh, just tell me!" Jordan said angrily, beginning to tremble, and beside me, Ayla rolled her gold eyes at him and placed her hand on her temperamental imprint's shoulder, and he immediately calmed under her touch.

"Jordan, you really need to learn to _actually listen_ to what people are saying," Ayla gently chided; always the peacemaker, like the book character she had been named after.

"We are _going_ to the zoo, to rescue those tigers, remember?" Sarah prompted, hurrying to walk beside me, and Jordan's gold eyes brightened. "_Oh_ yeah!" he said, and behind us I heard Shanzi cackle loudly, drawing a couple of wandering eyes.

I turned to glare at the hyena, and she bowed her head in acquiesce, but there was a smirk on her face I understood only too well. Bonzai sniggered and Shanzi punched him lightly in the arm. In case you're wondering about the names, Shanzi and Bonzai were only nicknames; their real names were Maryanna and Austin, respectively. For anyone who guessed, their favorite movie as kids was (and is) the Lion King.

We turned a corner, and I felt a shiver go up my spine as the front gate of the zoo came into view; flanked by guards and huge lines of people, I felt a slight claustrophobia start to set in, but I shook it off. We had to rescue these tigers before they snapped and the humans found out what they really were.

Unbeknownst to even themselves, they were important; more important than they could ever imagine.

**. . . **

**(Charlie PoV)**

_"How do we get outta here?"_ Daniel shrieked, flinching back into the cold metal behind him, as the very same metal in front of us was steadily being ripped to shreds. I was next to him, also pressed against the metal and trying to get as far away as I could, while my mind raced, trying to figure out a way to get out of this screaming-metal-death-trap.

_Literally! _I thought, as I heard Daniel begin screaming hysterically beside me.

My eyes flashed throughout the enclosed space, looking desperately for anything that would help us. Suddenly my eyes widened as I yanked an aerosol can from my belt, looking from it to the deathly-white hand that ripped through the metal at that instant, and the long claw-like fingernails painted crimson, like blood.

With a fresh wave of horror, I realized that her nails _were_ painted in blood.

With that realization, I knew that the can of industrial-strength Knockout in my hand would not be enough to stop this super-strong, homicidal maniac.

My hand dived into my pocket, retrieving a small, decorated object.

Seconds later, the deathly-pale face framed by crimson waves of hair like fire grinned at me manically through the metal as she pushed the five inches of steel. With a small smile, I waved at her in a friendly manner, and her eyebrows shot up in confusion.

Then I pointed the can of Knockout straight at her face and pushed down on the top button, holding the ornamental lighter underneath it.

_Click._

An explosion of flames shot out the end, hitting the maniacal fashion-model square in the face. With an unnaturally high-pitched shriek of agony, she leapt backwards, trying to avoid the flames, but it was already too late. Her hair now real fire; crimson irises hidden behind clenched shut and blackened eyelids, as she clawed at her head and clothes as they too caught on fire.

Heart thundering in my chest, I could only stare in horrified _shock_ as she began to turn to ash in front of me, all the while screaming in such agony that I felt panic beginning to finally set in; some instinct that told me, as her screams rose higher and higher in pitch, into a single ringing note, almost like a siren, that the danger was greater now than ever.

Suddenly the all elevator doors around ours slide open, and guards poured into the room, guns and Tazers held at the ready, only to look on in stunned horror at the burning woman before them. Before any of them could react beyond a shouted, "Get water!" a sudden gust of wind from a broken window swept through the room, and the crimson-eyed woman dissolved into ash, her final scream lingering in the air, before it too, faded into silence.

The silence lasted only a couple of seconds before everyone erupted into shouting and confusion. People turned to others, eyes wide as they shouted for someone to explain what had just happened. It was only then that I realized I was shaking badly, uncontrollably.

Even my vision was blurred, and suddenly in my mind, I saw an image of a wolf.

_What the—?_

Then I felt an arm on my shoulder, and still shaking, I turned to see the ghostly image of an ancient Native American man, whose features I recognized instantly as Quileute. The man's black eyes were solemn, and he opened his mouth as if to speak, his lips forming words I couldn't hear, but I instinctively understood what he said.

_Beware the angels…_

I opened my mouth to ask what he was talking about, but I blinked—and he was gone; instead a darkness was gathering at the corners of my vision as my heart pounded dangerously fast in my chest, sounding like a reverberating drum in my mind.

The last thing I heard before everything went black was the _whoosh_ of large wings outside the broken window, and the warning howl of an ancient wolf in my mind.

**. . . **

**AN: yeah, I know, pathetically short, but hey! Victoria's finally dead, Archangel's taken it's first step toward reality, and this chapter, no matter how short, it's already getting the cobweb-covered wheels in my mind labeled "True Vamp" turning again after a month of glorious and stressful script writing!**

**Make sure you check out my adopted story, "The Legend of the Golden Wolf", originally by Five By Five Gurl.**

**REVIEW!**

**~Make sure you vote and review! ~**

**~Or a shoe I'll throw at you! ~**

**~If I don't update soon,~**

**~I'll probably get stabbed with a spoon~**

**~So review, ~**

**~Or I cant update~**

**~And If I can't update~**

**~Someone will kill me with a spoon, ~**

**~Or a rabid raccoon,~**

**~So review, ~**

**~And I wont die, ~**

**~And you can read more about my favorite Vampire guy! ~**

**AN: reviewers excused from reviewing: GothMisfitFreak, RLD Flame-point Callie-co, crazyperson17, and MayFairy -Thanks for your reviews, i hope you liked this chap (not matter how short it was)! and don't forget to vote on my poll!**


	27. Harsh Realities

True Vamp Chapter 27: Harsh Realities

**AN: Is it just me, or does the chapter title sound strange? I don't know why, but "realities" just sounds weird…maybe I've said it too many times in the last minute…**

**RE: AN: Woohoo! Finally got new shoes! Basically, they're a knockoff of the Sketcher's Shape-ups; (The brand is Fubu), they're black with five little rhinestones in a row on the outside, AND: I got a Gameboy Advance! (Yes, I know they're old; but this last week, I had the insatiable urge to play the old Pokemon games I had as a kid on one, and now I got one! [Thanks to Melissa from Algebra; I **_**am**_** going to pay you btw, even if I have to sneak you the money!])**

**P.S: I'm at school as i update this! hope you like it and remember to REVIEW!**

**Reviews: 219**

**Chapter Quote: (this is a long one—song Lyrics)**

"_**They say that what you mock**_

_**Will surely overtake you,**_

_**And you become a monster**_

_So the monster will not break you—_

_**And it's already gone too far;**_

_**Who said that if you go in hard,**_

_You won't get hurt?_**Jesus can you take the time**

_**To throw a drowning man a line?**_

Peace on tell the ones who hear no sound

_**Whose' sons are living in the ground,**_

_**Peace on Earth.**_

_**No who's or why's no one cries**_

_**Like a mother cries,**_

_**For peace on Earth!**_

_**She never got to say good-bye,**_

_**To see the color in his eyes,**_

_**Now he's in the dirt.**_

_**Peace on Earth.**_

_**They're reading names out,**_

_**Over the radio,**_

_**All the folks the rest of us,**_

_**Won't get to know…"**_

—**Peace on Earth**** by ****U2**** (I highly recommend you listen to this song! It is amazing and sad—**

**I listened to it the entire time I read "This World We Live In" by I think Michelle Pfeiffer—(it's a really weird name to spell), and if that's not the right title, it's the third book in the series where the moon gets knocked into a closer orbit to earth because of a meteor.**

**Chapter songs: "Pale" by Within Temptation for Ash, and "Damn Cold Night" and "Peace on Earth" [ see above quote] for Alice and Xavier.**

**(The scattered Lyrics in this chapter are from "Pale", but not in the right order.)**

**. . . **

**(Ash PoV)**

I frowned thoughtfully as I watched the Fledglings, thirteen in all, as they struggled to change into their second basic form, the wolf; (with the first form being their original vampire body); that is, every Fledgling except _Bella_ was struggling.

From the first word of "GO!" Bella had immediately closed her eyes in concentration, and _WHOOSH!_ She had vibrated into a blurred mass, only to reform as an absolutely _huge_ white wolf an instant later, about the size of a rhino.

All the other Fledglings, and most of the teaching Adolescs stared at her in shock, amazed that she had gotten it so quickly. For most Fledglings, it took weeks—if not months—of intense training to be able to shift into another form so quickly. While Bella's feat was not unheard of, it was rare, but it meant that the Fledgling most likely had werewolf or wolf-shifter ancestors in their bloodline.

From what Scarlet had told me about Dane's discoveries, Bella was in fact a very distant descendent of Taha Aki, the first wolf-shifter of the Quileute tribe, _and_ a hybrid-werewolf, one of the distinct strains of the werewolf gene where they could transform at will outside of the moon's influence.

I shook my head to clear it of my distracting thoughts, and looked more closely at Bella's wolf fur, since I had not had time to examine it that first night. It was an almost pure white all over, except for two odd stripes of slightly darker fur, starting at her collarbone and sweeping back in an almost wing-like fashion to her middle back. It was a very interesting fur pattern, but I didn't know what to make of it.

My eyes flickered over to where Evelyn, the woman who had volunteered to teach the Fledglings tonight, was standing in front of her pupils on the raised stage. We were in the enormous dance hall, which was now devoid of humans; our last mortal passengers had disembarked at our last stop a week after Bella and I had arrived. She too, was looking at Bella in surprise as my second Fledgling sat at the edge of the group, her ears laid back in embarrassment. Her eyes flickered to the other Fledglings, who looked at her with mixtures of jealously, contempt, and awe as they grumbled about how hard it was to change. The jealousy and contempt was coming from "older" Fledglings—the ones who had been turned when they were physically older than Bella's 18 years—and the awe was coming from her peers and those who were younger.

Most of them just needed to stop trying to be better than the others and focus more on completing their task.

Suddenly Evelyn sent out a mental call for attention, and everyone, including me and the other Adolesc that had been sitting or standing not far away from where I was, turned to face her expectantly. Evelyn was a tall woman, with dark brown hair—when she was human it had been blonde, but had darkened with her transformation, as was normal—, She even had the usual black-rainbow eyes. But even so, she seemed particularly imposing, with her stern expression and hawk-like eyes.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she scrutinized Bella intently for a minute, her mind blocked. Then a slow smile won over, melting away her fierce features, to be replaced with pride.

"Well done! Well done indeed!" She said happily, clapping her hands once before springing forward lithely, black wings spreading out momentarily to flap once, -propelling her forward— twice, thrice, and then fold back in, as she landed elegantly in front of a surprised Bella.

"Everyone, I would like to draw you're attention to Bella Swan, for her speed and skill in changing her form; this is definatly one of the fastest changes I have ever seen by a Fledgling—is this you're first try?"

This question was directed to Bella, so I stood up.

"Actually," I said, drawing everyone's eyes, "This is only her second try, but she changed _just as fast_ under far more stressful conditions, and not even an hour after her turning; we were ambushed by a pack of local wolf-shifters—the Quileutes." I said, and there were gasps of surprise.

"Really?" The voice of a young Dhampir—Shawn—asked in surprise.

"How did you get away?" Another curious Adolec spoke out, stand up in the back row.

"The Quileutes are the most Anti-Hybrid—well, any species other than _themselves_ and humans— shifters in America! And that includes _us,_ thanks to a certain _Antony Thorn!_ Where is he anyways? Didn't he say he'd be here?" Complained the familiar voice of Joanne; an elderly woman who had been turned only ten years ago by her grandson, who had been an Adolec for only five years; he'd rushed back at the news that she was dying, frantic, and turned her.

"_Really?_"Evelyn asked, her voice most prominent among the babble of the gathered vampires around me, and Bella nodded her snowy-furred head. I could feel embarrassment, but also a small blossom of pride coming from her mind. Whoever she had been as a human, she'd had an obvious inferiority complex; something I was slowly breaking her of, along with the help of everyone here.

She deserved to be proud of herself.

After another half-hour of practice, during which no one else was able to change, Evelyn finally dismissed everyone to leave for their choice of activities; besides the mandatory defense training in the morning (being able to defend yourself and others was top priority to our kind), and the hour of training in certain areas later, all vampires, Fledglings and Adolescs alike, were free to wander the ship and it's vast array of informational entertainment, or to peruse a personal interest with others or alone.

At Evelyn's signal, Bella changed back into her vampire form, to once again reveal the stunning black dress she had worn when we first came on the _Night Legacy_: a long-sleeved, form-fitting dress of black velvet, with a small, non-revealing collar; the fabric flared out subtly at the bottom, that barely floated an inch above the floor.

"My, my, Ash!" Evelyn turned to me with a wide smile, fangs flashing in the light from the chandeliers above us, "Your second Fledgling has some talent, that's for sure! If only your first—"

But her remark met empty air, and she stopped mid-sentence as I turned away to see the dark rolling waves as they rushed past under us, having already crossed the width of the ship before Evelyn could even complete her half-sentence.

Eyes closed, my hands clenched around the metal rail tightly, knowing from the metallic screech of protest that my hands would leave imprints in the metal when I lifted them away, I knew that beside them were other marks, not identical, but in the same pattern; memories of other hands, more than mine, had clutched this same rail in shock; in rage; in despair and desolation.

Tears slowly traced their way down my face, and reaching up, I clenched the locket in my hand, holding it gently, desperate that I would not break my only connection to my past: _to her. To them both._

Looking up into the black night sky, I saw the thousands of stars scattered across its great depths; the same stars we had gazed upon, so long ago when we were human; looking at them, I wondered if she was looking at them too, or if she was beyond seeing anything again. I felt a sob building in my chest, and I shook my head.

_Why her? Why them? Why ME?_

Suddenly I felt a long-familiar hand on my shoulder.

_**Oh this night is too long,  
Have no strength to go on,  
No more pain;  
I'm floating away.  
Through the mist  
See the face,  
of an angel who calls my name,  
I remember you're the reason I have to stay…**_

My head snapped up and I turned to stare at the pale beauty beside me. Shock and amazement warring against grief and sorrow on my face. As I looked into her familiar rainbow-black eyes, the very eyes I had expected to never see again, I felt hope, but also fear about the news she may have.

_"Madeline?"_

**. . . **

**(Alice PoV)**

My mind went blank as I heard Jasper ask rhetorically, already knowing the answer: "What does it mean?"

I knew what it meant; and so did he.

They were insane; all of them—But wouldn't that mean we were too, if _we_ could see them?

Suddenly, with a flash of darkness, my mind was sucked into a vision—Except it wasn't one of the future—it was of the _past._ And I was no longer me.

_**Have to try, to break free,  
from the thoughts in my mind,  
Use the time that I have,  
I can't say, good-bye.  
Have to make it right.  
Have to fight,  
Cause I know in the end it's worthwhile,  
that the pain that I feel slowly fades away  
it will be all right…**_


	28. Vision of the Past

**True Vamp Chapter 28: Visions of the Past**

**Reviews: 224**

**Chapter songs:"Peace On Earth" byU2— for Alice and Xavier**, _And:_"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", by U2— for Ash and Madeline.**

**"A Dangerous Mind" by Within Temptation—for Aro & the Volturi**

****(I think I'll have to make him his own story after this…I've hardly even written him yet, and I already love him!)**

**REVIEW GOAL: Let's try for 230! That means only **_**6**_** more reviews!**

**On to the chapter!**

**(P.S: in a review, tell me your thoughts on Xavier! He's one of my first major OCs in this story when it comes to the **_**canon version**_** of the Twilight Saga!)**

**. . . **

**(Alice PoV—Recap)**

_Suddenly, with a flash of darkness, my mind was sucked into a vision—Except it wasn't one of the future—it was of the past. And I was no longer me._

**(Xavier PoV—Alice's vision)**

I wrinkled my nose as I pulled open the heavy metal door into the asylum, the stench of the 'inmates' assaulting my sense of smell; rotting food, greasy hair, unwashed bodies, human waste, and the decay of the rats and mice who had been unlucky enough to crawl into the violent ones' rooms—the ones who attacked anything that moved— including _me;_ good thing I was strong enough to hold off a hundred human psychopaths.

Just a few weeks ago, I hadn't cared at all about our patients' state of living—until now. And just one human girl had changed my perspective of my surroundings.

Mary Alice Brandon.

Mary Alice was a small girl of sixteen or seventeen years. She had pale skin— but what else could you expect from someone who lived in a virtually windowless and lightless cell? Black hair she had, once been long and flowing, now sheared off in a short ragged mass as part of the Biloxi, Missouri's state Asylum "protocol". She was of average beauty for a human, and at first, I wasn't sure what had drawn me to her.

It was true, yes, that her blood did smell remarkably good, but hadn't I encountered many humans with sweet-smelling blood like that before? Maybe it was the fact that she was much more reasonable than her other cellmates; she didn't rage, or shriek or curse every instant; she just sat or lay down in her dark, unadorned cell, without a comfort of any kind.

She would usually stare into the distance, as if seeing things that no one else could, quiet as a mouse, except for the few occasions were she would laugh, cry, or, once, a scream of terror, so bloodcurdling from a normally calm patient, that both the other warden and I had run to her cell, expecting to see her covered in her own blood, a crude weapon in hand.

Or, perhaps, another inmate with her hands wrapped around the poor girl's throat; the other warden was just worried about getting in trouble if an inmate died, but by that time, I was ready to rip the throat out of anyone who dared to harm her.

What we actually found was more surprising.

Mary Alice was curled up into a ball under her bed—barely more than a metal frame with a lumpy mattress—crying quietly in terror as she stared out at us with unseeing, clouded-over eyes. Suddenly she flinched, and held her breath, eyes wide in horror. She leaned forward very slightly, peering out past us, and then jerked back with another loud, hysterical scream of terror as she thrashed, fighting some invisible enemy that only she could see.

In an instant I shot across the room to restrain her. If she kept going on like this, she would hurt herself.

"Get the jacket!" I said to the other warden, shouting to be heard over her screams to be heard; luckily, being a vampire, I was strong enough to pin her arms and legs, but without growing another hand, I couldn't exactly make her be quiet without hurting her.

Something I had already sworn to never do.

"Mary Alice!" I shouted again, "Calm down! There's nothing here_; you're safe!_" These last two words were said with such conviction, as she lay within the steel cages that were my arms, that they seemed to break through to her befuddled mind. Her grass-green eyes cleared of the mist that had seemed to hang over them like fog on an early morning, only to be filled again with tears.

"What is it?" I asked her gently, "What's scaring you?"

She began to tremble again, and I was afraid I had started up another outburst with my questions, but then she whispered something that, if I had blood still, would have made it run cold.

"He's coming! The red-eyed man! _He's coming to kill me!"_

**(Aro PoV)**

"You are dismissed." I waved my hand at the coven of vampires before me, who hurried to follow behind Caius and Marcus as they led the vampires towards the exit. My brothers would then escort them personally to the airport where they would send the coven on their way, on their mission.

"Master, there is a call for you, from Carlisle Cullen."

I nodded at Felix, and held out my hand for the tiny phone he held reverently in his hand. Without a word, he placed it in my hand, and the brief skin-to-skin contact sent a million images and voices spinning through my mind. Without anything more than a quick scan for any treacherous thoughts or feelings, I shrugged off the barrage of a lifetime of emotions.

With a cold smirk on my face, I brought the phone to my ear. "Carlisle! It's been too long, my friend! How are you?"

The false sincerity in my voice could not be distinguished from the true emotion.

"Not so good, Aro." A sigh on the other end.

I smiled, eyes flashing, as I feigned ignorance.

"Why, whatever is the matter? Is there anything I can do?" I injected some sympathy into my voice, along with some worry.

"I—" He hesitated, and then continued warily. "I trust you know about the human Edward had found his mate in? Bella Swan?"

I nodded, my smirk widening on my face as I looked across the room at the new addition to the décor: an expertly-carved statue of an angel, wings spread wide, arms crossed across its chest looking down, as if in thought.

The reason I been originally drawn to it was because if you looked closely at it's face, (which was hidden in shadow), you could see the malicious expression on the angel's face; a face full of hate and disgust, as if it were looking on the devil himself.

"Oh, yes, I know all about her—you _are_ going to turn her aren't you? Because if not, there would be…unfortunate consequences…" I trailed off suggestively, already knowing what had happened to the human.

There was a sad sigh on the other end of the phone.

"We were…originally…"

"Originally?" I asked, making my voice sound shocked. "What, did you one of you slip up? I told you that animal blood isn't healthy for you—"

"No, Aro, none of us "slipped up". We had decided to leave Bella behind, for her protection. We took all evidence that she had ever known of us, and, after Edward had convinced her it was for her own good, he met us in New Orleans where we were renting an apartment.

"It was two nights later that we heard on the news that she had disappeared. There was evidence of a struggle not an hour's walking distance from where Edward had left Bella…when we went to investigate for ourselves, we found Victoria, a vampire whose mate had died while he hunted Bella last year. She's had a vendetta against Bella ever since. She fled before we could do anything. Though we haven't found her body, we know for a fact that Bella's dead."

My eyes opened in surprise, and confusion. "How do you know she's dead?"

There was a pause on the other line again, this one longer, almost an entire second passed before:

"Her ghost is haunting us, along with the ghost of my wife's human child, Annie, who died shortly after she was born. They both have the appearance of angels."

I blinked in shock, glancing again at the angel statue. _They have the appearance of angels? Could it be…?_

"Carlisle, that's preposterous! Are you sure you haven't gone mad?" I teased, while wondering if my mocking statement was correct. I'd always held the opinion that drinking animal blood would mess with your mind…

"I'm not so sure, Aro. I'm not so sure. Is there anyone you know of that has had a similar haunting?"

My mind flashed through the sea of memories I had gained using my ability. There were a few who believed they were being 'haunted' by victims or loved ones; Alistair, the man who had probably already been mad when he was changed; Marcus, my _brother_—I sneered the thought—who, when ever my skin came in contact with, would have images and conversations with a silent Didyme, who by that time had been long dead—by my own hand no less; although, no one else needed to know that. She had almost convinced Marcus to leave the Volturi with her…

And then a name filled my mind, who, I knew, had the most remarkable 'ghost' haunting him.

"There is one, that you might find interesting, though I do not know if he is still alive; it was over a hundred years ago that I first met him." I warned Carlisle.

"I'm sure I will be able to find out if he is still alive; who is it, Aro?"

"Gregor," I said slowly, "formerly Lord Gregor of Hallowrain. He barely escaped a religious mob in 1711, though his estate, I'm sorry to say, was burned to the ground. I think you know who he is."

I abruptly hung up then, lost in thought. An entire minute had passed before I regained myself and realized again, with a barely suppressed shiver, that I was not alone in the throne room.

I opened my eyes, and raised my head, only to just barely resist leaping out of the throne in shock; my hands made indents in the stone armrests from where I gripped them, and small specks of dust floated silently away. I just barely suppressed a cry. Bartallow.

There, right in front of me, the angel statue stood, head no longer bowed, granite eyes level with my crimson ones, one stone hand resting on it's hip, the other placed ponderously on it's chin, in the classic pose of one deep in thought; almost like it was studying me, like a new parent studies their child, wondering what they will be in the future.

Which wasn't that bad of a comparison; after all, according to Bartallow, a Seraph had been the father of our race, and their kind had still not decided on whether or not to kill us all.

Bartallow smiled a cruel, stone smile as he watched me.

**. . . **

**AN:**

**Sorry I haven't updated in awhile; but the good thing is: NO MORE SCHOOL! (*Screams and cheers erupt out of nowhere, startling the reader so badly they forget about my late update-y-ness*)**

**SO, you all know what that means: more, faster updates! I promise, that 8 days from now, we will have another update, and if not, scream at me in a PM or review to yank my attention from my GBA or the pool, or whatever else is distracting me!**

**Oh, and I'm making a new poll, that, because I want an anonymous opinion, I'm polling instead of asking on here. not sure how long it takes to make a new poll appear, but I'll make It as soon as this chap is up, so be on the look out, and VOTE!**

**Oh, and:**

_**~Make sure you vote and review!**_

_**~Or a shoe I'll throw at you!**_

_**~If I don't update soon,**_

_**~I'll probably get stabbed with a spoon**_

_**~So review,**_

_**~Or I cant update**_

_**~And If I can't update**_

_**~Someone will kill me with a spoon,**_

_**~Or a rabid raccoon,**_

_**~So review,**_

_**~And I wont die**_

_**And you can read more about my favorite vampire guy! ~**_

**P.S: Anyone want to guess what the long-awaited Seraphs are up to?**

**Reviewers excused: The ever-faithful RLD Flame-point Callie-co, Mayfairy, and Crazyperson17. Thanks for all your reviews! i hope that soon we'll be past the previous chapter buildup, so everyone can review ever new chap!**


	29. The Rescue & The Reunion

**True Vamp Chapter 29: The Rescue & The Reunion**

**AN: ****This scene with Ash & Madeline was supposed to take place in the last chap, but I forgot to add it in my haste to update, so here it is!**

**Chapter Song:**** "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of." By U2 (as mentioned in the previous chap)**

**Chapter Quote:**** (Just because I was re-reading it and I thought it was funny; this is from my Scriptfrenzy script ARCHANGEL [as in the Archangel Detective Agency] Keep in mind that this is from a script, not a book, so the layout is different; things in parenthesis are what they are doing as they speak, or how they are speaking. (I just made them italicized in this to help separate them from speech) Things in all caps are names/ who is speaking.**

**Have I mentioned that I OWN this quote? No? Well… it's MINE! =)**

**. . . **

**ALEX **

**Whoa, whoa, whoa, who said anything about being on the run? **

***All four teens stare at him. ***

**ALL **

_**(In unison)**_

**You did. **

**ALEX**

_**(Shaking his head) **_

**I most certainly did not.  
**

**MATT **

**Yes you did! After that helicopter full of FBI guys came! You said, **

_**(Imitating Alex's voice) **_

"**They think you're with me, and they'll come after you!" **

_**(Normal voice) **_

**I heard you! **

***Sarah, Kyle and Kent all nod in agreement. ***

***Face palming, Alex sighs wearily. ***

**ALEX **

**You four watch **_**WAY**_** to much TV, you know that?**

**. . . **

**Reviews: 259**** (a HUGE thanks to ****LordXeenTheGreat**** for **_**28**_** consecutive reviews! My reaction when I saw how many reviews I had was basically:**

***I blinked at the screen* **

_**What the heck? Something must be wrong with the website…**_**I thought, before clicking on my reviews.**

***I stare at the screen in absolute shock for a second, before exclaiming:***

"**Holy CRAP!"**

**Review Goal: 265 (6 more reviews)**

**Oh yeah! Story recommendation! I found this story while looking through –'s other favorite stories, and read all 21 chapters in one go. It's**

"**The Subtle Grace Of Gravity"**** by **_**Wonderwoundedhearers**_**, **

**And I was shocked at how much I absolutely **_**loved**_** the author's version of Peter (Jasper's brother-in-arms from the vampire wars) and how Bella's behavior seemed so…normal! Not OOC at all, though of course it was; I didn't scoff or anything!**

**Oh, and don't think that I just made up Madeline out of the blue to create more mystery and drama—she's been part of the plan since the beginning of True Vamp…and she goes far back into the past of our mysterious hero!**

. . .

**_Ash recap:_**

**_My head snapped up and I turned to stare at the pale beauty beside me. Shock and amazement warring against grief and sorrow on my face. As I looked into her familiar rainbow-black eyes, the very eyes I had expected to never see again, I felt hope, but also fear about the news she may have._**

**_"Madeline?"_**

**_. . . _**

**(Ash PoV)**

_"Madeline?"_ I breathed, shocked. A hundred different questions ran through my mind, but my mouth couldn't work fast enough to get them all out: "How did you—what did you—_Where were you?_ I almost thought you were dead! You should have told me where you were!" I shouted, rage momentarily taking over, and she flinched back, rainbow-black eyes flashing with guilt, and then her own anger.

"What! Since when were you my keeper? It's not like you made any effort to get into contact with me; and besides, I was doing _my_ _own searching!_ You're not the only one who lost someone in the Swarm!"

Agony sliced through my heart at her words, and it was my turn to flinch. _She's right; I'm not her keeper; I have no right to be angry—what a mess I'm making of this reunion…_I thought, with anger directed at myself; I was always ruled by my emotions around Madeline; our pasts were the same; we were both survivors, and I was much too overprotective of her—she could take care of herself, as she had proved five hundred years ago on the burning streets of our home.

Suddenly she sighed, shoulders slumping. I blinked, and really _looked_ at her for the first time in the five minutes we'd been standing here. Her skin was too pale; she hadn't' fed yet, she wore the casual clothes of this century; a black tee-shirt with a design of what looked like two black roses, a stylized cream-colored cross, a dark grey, ribbon-like pattern flowing over out-stretched feathered wings, with rhinestones glued on at certain points. Her curled black hair trailed below her waist, cut to a soft V at the end.

For leg-wear she wore a pair of dark trousers, (more commonly known as jeans) something that would have been highly inappropriate for a girl or woman to wear when we were human…it would have caused a scandal!

"What are we doing here, Alex?" she asked quietly, and my head snapped up at the sound of my name; it had been so long since I had it spoken aloud.

"What do you mean?" I asked, hoping to repair the damage my outburst had caused.

"Everytime we see each other, we argue about stupid, petty things! And…" She trailed off, blinking rapidly. My eyes widened and I quickly moved forward and pulled her into a comforting embrace, horrified that my actions had caused her to cry. "We end up saying things we regret." She whispered against my shoulder, before pushing back to look me in the face, her eyes like black pools full of starlight, locked onto my own.

"I don't want to lose you," she confessed.

"You won't." I vowed, pulling her in close again.

. . .

**(B-PoV)**

I froze where I stood, shocked at what I was seeing.

Ash, and another vampire—a _woman_—were standing under the stars by the railing, and the woman was held in a tight embrace; her head was resting on Ash's shoulder, and I watched, dumbfounded as he lowered his head to whisper a reply to her fervent admission, the only part of their conversation I had overheard.

'_I don't want to lose you'…_what was she talking about? How did they know each other? Were they…together?

For some reason, that thought made my heart clench painfully, and I felt my eyes burn and itch, a warning of tears to come.

"You won't." he vowed, and I felt my heart stutter and what was left of the blood in my face drain away.

Quickly, I turned around and rushed from the dance hall into the dimly lit corridors, running as silent as a ghost. I felt my breath coming in short gasps and I fought to hold back tears. I made it to my room without running into anyone, and slammed the door shut behind me, finding myself in darkness.

Since my change, darkness was usually comforting, but now, all I could see was the image of Ash and the woman standing under the stars. My hand reached out and flipped the switch on the wall near the metal door, and I bit back a hiss as the room was flooded with light, burning my eyes slightly at the sudden brilliance before they adjusted.

The room was sparsely furnished, considering this had been my room for six months. In the back corner was a large frame of what was once probably a bunk bed, now converted to a vampire's needs; no one took any chances, even in a windowless room.

The old round metal frame was bright red, with splatters of what looked like finger paint still clinging to some of the bars. The top mattress and bars that hat sat on the four legs had been removed, and replaced with a thick steel plate; over top of that on tracks of wheels, another steel plate waited to be pulled down, to seal the bed's occupant in impenetrable darkness, locking from the inside.

It wasn't the most beautiful bed I had seen, but it served its purpose of keeping all light out. Lying in it, just before the sun rose, felt like you were about to go to sleep in an army tank.

Arranged around the bed were bookshelves, a hamper for laundry, an old wardrobe, and a desk, on which sat a mirror.

I took a deep breath in through my nose, concentrating on the near silence of the room, and then let it out slowly. I repeated this process a couple of more times before I felt calmer.

Now more under control, I walked over to the mirror to see what my eyes looked like; aside from after my first hunt and the barrage of memories it had caused, this was the first time as a vampire that I had ever cried, and I still didn't know exactly why.

So Ash was in love, _who cares_? If anything, he deserved it. I hadn't seen a lot of him in the six months we'd been on the _Night Legacy,_ at least, compared to the constant company we'd had while we traveled here from Forks, but I _had_ seen that he seemed troubled, upset, and stressed out. When we had been traveling, I hadn't really noticed that he would forget the names of things, or ask me a question more than once, when I had already answered; sometimes, he would tell me an interesting fact about something, and then twenty minutes later tell me again.

He seemed to forget things more when he was stressed about something.

Especially, I noticed, when the tall, thin vampire named Santino—who was slightly reminiscent of Nosferatu with his skull-like face, bald head, pointed ears, and slightly hunched back—was around.

There was such a look of hatred on Ash's face when he saw him, which transformed into absolute _fury_ when he saw that the man was close to me; even us just walking past each other in a hallway would prompt his countenance to go from calm, to clenched fists and a rumbling growl to build in his chest, teeth bared. He looked like he had when that werewolf had attacked us on the first night of my transformation.

The first time I witnessed his reaction to the man, I had, at first, thought that it was _me_ he was growling at. I thought I had done something wrong. So when Ash pulled me into a side room immediately after Santino had walked past, I thought I was going to be reprimanded.

Boy, was I shocked at what he told, no, _ordered_ me.

"Stay away from that man!" He had hissed to me, and I just stared at him in shock and confusion.

"What?" I had asked.

"Never go near that man. Never go _anywhere_ alone with that man, and _do not_ let anyone else be alone with him, whether they be human, vampire, or anything in between!"

. . .

**(Mike PoV)**

_Ugh, I wish they'd just leave us alone already!_ I thought in irritation as the huge crowd of humans gathered around the enclosure shouted and talked loudly; beside me on the grass, Angela stirred restlessly, eyes closed as she attempted to go back to sleep.

_Do they have to be so loud? Can't they see I'm trying to SLEEP?_ Angela thought back grumpily.

_Want me to scare 'em away?_ I asked.

_Go ahead; it'll keep them away for a bit, but then they'll just come back, louder than ever. At least I'll be able to sleep for a little longer._

I nodded before slowly getting to my feet, stretching my legs and yawning.

Casual as anything, I strolled up to the metal-and-concrete fence that separated us from the spectators, and began to leisurely pace back and forth. People immediately began taking pictures of my odd-colored fur with cameras and cellphones.

Patrolling the parameter of the enclosure, a barrage of human scents assaulted my sense of smell: sweat, cotton candy, funnel cake, hot dogs, etc. Using my nose and ears as well as my eyes, I scanned the crowd for someone who'd be fun to scare. I briefly considered one of the zoo workers, who were regaling the crowd with the tale of how they had found Angela and I (They'd named us Roxanne and Dylan, something we'd both protested, but they _obviously_ couldn't understand tiger-speak) in the forest around the La Push Native American reserve in Washington.

I was getting ready to leap, snarling ferociously at the zoo-worker, when the smell of leather reached my nose and I spotted your stereotypical biker near the fence. The guy was huge, with sunglasses, a bandana, and a black leather jacket with the Harley-Davidson logo. He looked like he ate a bowl of nails for breakfast every morning.

_Without any milk._ The wordssounded in my mind from Angela, and I snickered, an odd sound for a tiger to make.

Seeing that Nail-Eater was watching me, I sat down and stared straight at him, wanting to freak him out a little before I moved in for the kill. My brilliant blue eyes—I didn't know if when I changed back into human form (if it was even possible) if they would go back to their normal brown—locked onto his.

Nail-Eater blinked and looked over his shoulder. When he saw nothing behind him and turned back only to see my eyes still locked onto his, his expression clearly stated '_What the heck?'_ I saw a glint of nervousness in his eyes, and just because I was enjoying this so much, I slowly licked my lips and twitched my mouth, to reveal my sharp teeth.

His eyes widened and he took a step back—and I leapt.

Roaring, I smashed my paws against the fence, causing nearby people to leap back with a shriek. Nail-Eater screamed and fell backwards, before jumping to his feet and running as fast as his feet could carry him.

That's when I heard the laughter.

Looking up, I saw a group of people, standing near the fence, who were all laughing their heads off. At the front of the group, a young woman with dark brown skin and hair stood watching us, her emerald-green dress shifting slightly in the breeze. Her eyes were a deep brown, and as I watched her, the wind blew from behind her, blowing her scent to me.

It smelled…woodsy; like the forest after it rains.

_We'll free you at midnight._ The alien thought made it's way into my mind, in the voice of a woman, and I hissed in surprise. The woman smiled and waved, before melting back into the crowd. One of the people in her group locked eyes with me, and I blinked in shock.

He had gold eyes, like the Cullen's, but he wasn't pale or exceptionally beautiful, and he smelled like…us? Huh? Was he a tiger too?

When I looked back, he was gone.

Above us, the sky was a deep, dark blue. Stars shone brightly in its moonlit expanse, and both Angela and I paced impatiently in the cages we were kept in at night. It wasn't small, or cramped or uncomfortable physically, but just the thought that I was in a _cage_ kept me edgy. I had barely slept at all in the six months we'd been at this zoo, and I knew Angela faired no better.

Suddenly a loud screech of protesting metal could be heard, and I flinched at the unexpected noise. Footsteps sounded, and quiet voices could be heard.

"_Where are they?"_

_"I can't tell; there's too many animal scents here, it's getting me confused."_

_"Hey! Can you guys hear us? Tigers-who-aren't-really-tigers!"_

My ears swivels to catch the sounds, and in an instant I recognized the woman's voice, at the same time I registered what she had said.

_They knew we weren't animals!_

"Over here!" I tried to shout, but it just came out as a low coughing grunt.

_"I think I heard something—do it again!"_

Concentrating this time, I repeated the grunt, forcing my mouth to move like it had when I was human; this time it was better, and sounded like _Huhh-hrr Hurrrh!_

Angela quickly copied me, with about the same amount of success I had.

_Huhh-hrr Hurrrh!_

_Huhh-hrr Hurrrh!_

"_I hear them! They sound like that dog from that commercial with 'we love our bank' but I can hear them!"_ A guy's voice shouted.

I rolled my eyes at that comment.

There was the sound of someone being slapped, and an indignant _"what was that for?"_ I hissed out a laugh.

The footsteps steadily got louder, and Angela and I pressed as close to the bars of our cages as we could as we continued our tiger-trying-to-imitate-English chant:

_Huhh-hrr Hurrrh!_

_Huhh-hrr Hurrrh!_

Suddenly around a corner the same group as before appeared, with the woman in the green dress at the front, and this time she had a small duffle bag over her shoulder. Behind her, I saw the same boy with gold eyes as before, and beside him stood a girl of about the same height; she had gold eyes too. Behind them both, two girls and two boys stood, with one of the pairs having orange eyes, and the other with hazel.

_What's with the freaky eyes?_ I wondered, then realized again that both Angela's eyes and mine had changed from their normal browns to a bright vivid blue on the night of our transformation.

"Ok, guys, we're gonna get you out of here!" The girl with gold eyes said, and Angela and I nodded, and then looked to see if they had any keys.

They didn't. How were they supposed to get us out?

Seeing our confusion, the woman in the green dress spoke. "Carole, Christopher and I—my name's Aoife by the way—are going to keep watch and look around, and Jordan, Ayla, Shanzi and Bonzai are going to break the bars of the cages—you might want to step back." She said, pointing out each individual. The two blonds were Jordan and Ayla, and the two with orange eyes were Shanzi and Bonzai. They're names sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it…

Angela and I looked at each other before complying.

The boy and girl with hazel eyes split up and headed down one of each end of the hallways, and Aoife dropped the duffle bag and headed towards the other cages, peering into them closely, as if searching for something.

The four remaining teens moved foreword and two each grasped one of the bars and braced themselves against the walls. I was doubtful about them being able to break the bars, but I knew there was something…different about them; their odd eyes for one, and the easy confidence with which their leader spoke.

"One, two…three!"

All four of them strained to pull the thick metal bars backwards, and for a second, nothing seemed to happen.

And then the bars began to move. Very slow, at first, but once they gave way, the metal seemed more willing to give ground. Slowly but surely, the once-straight metal bars bent, until there was space enough for a large animal to walk through. Cautiously, I poked my head through, and then stuck a foot outside the cage, testing the width. I could probably make it…

Sucking in my stomach, I slowly slid between the bars. The others moved out of the way, and I quickly sat down to minimize the amount of space I would take up. I nodded at them and bared my teeth in what I hoped would be a smile.

Bonzai snickered at my expression, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

A sudden gasp of "aww!" made me turn around, to see Aoife looking into a cage a couple rows down that held a baby chimp and its mother. The baby chimpanzee looked at Aoife curiously from the protective curl of its mother's arms, before wiggling out of her arms and moving towards Aoife. It stuck out a little hand, and Aoife smiled, but didn't reach out to it. A second later I saw why; the mother's eyes were open a crack, watching her suspiciously, feigning sleep. I had the feeling that if Aoife had moved even an inch, the mother would have tried to attacked.

Just then, there was the sound of creaking metal, and I turned back just in time to see Angela slip through the bent bars of her cage. She purred, rubbing her head against mine, whiskers brushing against mine, before sitting down next to me.

We both had the same thought: _what now?_

But, before we could figure out a way to ask, Carole and Christopher returned, silent as shadows.

"All the guards are asleep thanks to that sleeping medicine, but I don't think that'll work for long; the next shift will be here soon, and when they find them all asleep they'll know something's wrong. We have to hurry." Carole said, and Christopher nodded.

"Ok guys, considering you've been in this zoo since you first changed, I assume you don't know how to shift back?" Ayla asked, and at our shocked expressions, she smiled.

"We're shifters too."

Taking a moment to digest this, I nodded.

"Ok, shifting back is really very simple, you just have to stay calm and not get frustrated. All you do is concentrate on being human again; try to remember what it felt like, walking on two legs, or a strong memory you have of being human—and don't worry, we've got clothes for you to put on.

I blinked at that last comment—I hadn't considered that we wouldn't have clothes on once we changed back, but now it seemed obvious.

Embarrassed, I turned away from Angela and tried to think of a strong memory I had of being human. There were many from when I was a kid, talking with my parents, going to an amusement park, and some from my life at Forks High.

_My first day, a nervous freshman…_

_Kissing Jessica…_

_Seeing Bella on her first day…_

But then a far more powerful memory came to mind:

_It was raining, and I had been in a bad mood as I left the school, because I had been given detention for talking in class. As I walked in the cold rain around the driver's side of my car, I could see something crawling along the ground in the dark. Terror filled me, and then I saw that it was Angela._

In my mind I went through her horrific transformation on top of my car, and then the moment we locked eyes swept through my mind in a tidal wave of content and love. I concentrated on the feeling, and became aware of an odd sensation, like water flowing over my skin. I let it continue, eyes closed, now focused on the feeling, and seconds later what felt like a cool breeze on a hot summer day swept over me, and when I opened my eyes again I was human.

I barely had a chance to cover myself before a pair of pants and a shirt was tossed to me. Embarrassed beyond belief to be standing naked in front of a bunch of strangers, I quickly donned the offered clothes.

I glanced behind me and immediately snapped my head around again, a blush creeping up my face. Angela had just changed back and was still getting dressed.

"Ooh, the eyes are even freakier now!" Someone said, and I looked up in confusion to see Shanzi looking at me with interest as she examined my eyes.

"Yeah, well I doubt they're as freaky as yours are." I said dryly.

"True, true. But mine are cooler."

"No, Shanzi, I think the owner of the coolest eyes is obviously _me_; they're gold for crying out loud!"

"Whatever."

. . .

**AN: So, we finally find out where Mike and Angela have been! For anyone confused, they were caught near La Push and brought to the zoo, where they've been put on display.**

**Anyone recognize Santino's name? I've mentioned him at least once before; any guesses as to what his connection to Ash is, any why he hates him so much?**

**Challenge: Anyone who guesses the _Spongebob_ reference in here gets cookies!**

**Oh, and sorry for the late update; couldn't get on the laptop yesterday or the day before, but then again, this chap is 10 pages long, excluding this AN and the top AN!**

**Reviewers Excused: barcelona crow vampgirl; Thank you for your previous review, and i hope you liked this chap!**


	30. Halfway Gone

**True Vamp Chapter 30: Halfway Gone**

**Reviews: ****263**

**Chapter Song: ****"Halfway Gone"**** by ****Lifehouse**** for Bella, and ****"Peace On Earth"**** By ****U2**** For Alice & Xavier.**

**Chapter quote: **

**~Cause I'm halfway gone and I'm on my way, **

**And I'm feelin', feelin', feelin' this way**

**Cause you're halfway here, **

**But don't take too long, **

**Cause I'm halfway gone,**

**I'm halfway gone! ~**

**AN: I'd just like to take the time right now to make an announcement: From this chapter on, _EVERYONE_ can review _EVERY_chapter! We've passed the bump in the road that a bunch of grumpy AN's called home, and the path ahead is clear, like the sky after a storm; our worries are nowhere in sight, and today is the first day of the rest of our lives! And on that slightly sentimental, really random, Sensei-esquire note, on with the chapter!**

**. . . **

**(Bella PoV)**

I sighed again as I looked at my bed, a wave of sadness washing over me again as I remembered that unknown woman in Ash's arms. Slowly, I walked over and sat down on the edge of the mattress. Looking at the clock, I saw that not even half the night was gone. I was just about to sink dejectedly onto the bed, to wallow in self-pity over something I wasn't even sure about, when an image crashed through my mind, as if my subconscious was furious at me, the images swarmed behind my closed eyes, chasing each other in endless circles.

_Myself, sitting in a chair in my room, looking blindly out the window as the weather outside passed through the phases of the year in the blink of an eye…_

_Staring blankly my desk as various teachers and students flashed by; sitting alone in the lunchroom at the Cullen's old table…_

_Flinching everytime any one mentioned anything related to the Cullens, especially Edward's name—myself, posed on the edge of a cliff, a storm brewing in the black skies ahead; the ocean crashing furiously against the base of the cliff below; a maniacal mumble to thin air, and then I watched in horror as my mind-me jumped off the cliff with a small shriek—_

With a gasp I jerked upright, not sure when I had lain down; one thought ringing through my mind: _NO! I was NOT going to be like that!_ I felt my resolve harden; and mentally thanked my subconscious for supplying me with these…visions, for lack of a better word.

I understood, that those were things the old Bella—the old _me_ would have done, had I not met Ash; he had, effectively, forced me out of my imminent depression, the second he stepped into my life; it was only now that I realized that, since that first night, and right after my first hunt, I had barely thought of the Cullens, or felt any real _sadness_ at them leaving me behind. No, whenever I actually thought of them, it was with a simmering anger; a secret rage that was slowly building in my system, hiding behind the scenes waiting to strike.

I felt it now, that rage, but it was directed at myself for even _considering_ just sinking into this strange-looking-yet-comfortable bed for the rest of the night, all because I saw Ash and a woman talking and hugging. For all I knew, she could be his sister!

Determined now, I pushed myself up off the bed and marched from my room, hand flashing out to turn the light off before the door was closed. Turning left, I ghosted through the halls, following a path out of habit as I closed my eyes and let my feet lead me.

Opening my eyes, I smiled as I pushed open a swinging door, the smell of dust, plastic and old film rolls washing over me comfortingly. I cocked my head as I looked over the vast movie-room. The room was huge; a massive flat-screen TV solely dominated one wall, hooked up to a DVD player, a Bluray player, a VCR, a PS3, a Wii, and a multitude of other movie and or gaming devices.

The wall on the left was covered in hundreds, (if not thousands) of VHS's, the opposing one full of DVDs, Bluray discs, and video games. The last wall, (which I had just entered through) was piled high with beanbag chairs tossed one upon the other, and couches and futons were stacked neatly in corners; recliners lined the walls.

Walking across the broad floor to the wall of VHS's, I quickly scanned through some the titles:

_My favorite Martian; The Matrix; The Out of Towners; Gladiator; 101 Dalmatians; The Santa Clause; E.T The Extra-Terrestrial…_

I briefly considered watching E.T; it had been my favorite movie as a kid, but since my first hunt, any and every movie I had ever watched had been burned into my mind; heck, I could probably recite the entire movie's dialogue and sound-effects on demand. I shook my head; moving on to the next one.

_The Green Mile._ I cocked my head at that one; I had never seen it, but I _had_ heard of it; Renee had seen it, and said it was a really good movie, and that she thought it was based on a book by Stephen King.

That little mention of Stephen King made me wary; I had once started watching _The Secret Window_, which was based on one of his books, and had ended up turning the TV off, afraid of watching anymore after he found the dog.

But I shrugged it off; and grabbing my chosen movie from the shelf, I walked it over to the VCR and popped it in, scowling when I realized the last person to watch it hadn't rewound it. I pressed _Stop_ and then pressed _rewind_ a couple times, listening in satisfaction to the high-pitched _Vhiirrr_ of the machine as the tape was rewound at super-speed.

Turning around, I examined the seat-wall for a second, before selecting a large black futon. Dashing to that side of the room, I lifted the metal frame and giant cushion with ease, walking it to the center of the room.

I waited patiently for the film to finish rewinding, and when the VCR _clicked_, I dashed forward and pressed play, before turning, leaping over the futon, turning the light off, and jumping back onto the futon just as some of the trailers for other movies began to play.

Settling down comfortably, I lounged on the cushion, watching and contemplating my own problems in life as I watched the drama play out across the screen, smiling, crying, laughing and wanting to rip a certain guard's head off in rage.

**. . . **

**(Xavier PoV—Through Alice's Vision)**

"He's coming! The red-eyed man! _He's coming to kill me!"_ Mary Alice whispered hoarsely, still shaking faintly as I froze.

_Red-eyed man? A vampire?_ I , she must be hallucinating; the only vampire she's seen is me, and my eyes are too dark a red, even after I feed, that they're almost black; no one would ever guess that they once glowed bright crimson.

It was then that the other warden—Percy (**'a certain guard…'**)—returned, feet pounding against the concrete floors as he raced to bring me the straight-jacket before Mary Alice struggled out of my restraining arms—or at least, that's what I would have been worried about if I were him, who thought I was just a regular mortal man like himself.

Percy rushed into the room, relieved to see that Mary Alice had calmed down. Slowly I released one of my arms from around her, and snatching the jacket from Percy's hand, I slowly eased her arms—now complacent, as she usually was—into the sleeves of it before buckling up the back and adjusting the straps.

"Is there an isolation cell free?" I asked Percy, and he shook his head.

"No, the Witch's in one, Stabby's in another and Howler's in the last." He said in his high, whiney voice, and I suppressed a scowl at his casually cruel nicknames for the inmates.

"Fine; one of us has to watch her for awhile, in case she had another panic attack." I told him, but he just shrugged.

"I got a bunch of paperwork to fill out thanks to Stabby; _you'll_ have to watch Pixie by _yourself_." Percy said rudely, before walking off. I stared after him in anger, contemplating strapping him into his own straight jacket and shoving him into "Stabby's" cell as punishment for his insolence, but controlled the urge.

It was only then that I noticed what he had called Mary Alice: Pixie. I looked down at the quiet, dark-haired girl in the straight jacket; it was a very good nickname for her, with her petite frame, dark hair, pale skin and green eyes, I could just imagine fairy wings sprouting from her shoulder blades; in fact, if her eyes had been two different colors, I would have sworn that she _was_ one of the fair folk.

The weeks and months passed quickly, quicker than I would have liked. I spent as much time at the Asylum as I could, when I wasn't hunting, so much time in fact that I practically began to live there, spending all my available time with Mary Alice. She slowly began to speak to me, in a sensible way, though I had no way of telling whether or not she spoke truths, lies, or a mix somewhere between that insanity fashions in the mind.

She told me of her parents, that they had always thought she was strange, even when she was little. She told me how they tried desperately to get her visions to stop, telling her she just had an overactive imagination.

She told me of her little sister, named Cynthia who hadn't been born yet, and wouldn't be until 1925—five years in the future. I quietly asked her why she thought she would have a sister in five years, and she answered that she'd seen it. I asked her how she knew her visions were real and not a part of her imagination, expecting her to rant and rave at my pointed question.

But she just laughed, grass-green eyes dancing. "Simple," she replied, "I know my visions are real because I saw you in them, before I met you. I have seen many things happen before they did. Some of them don't happen—people change their minds about small issues, and in turn that affects the bigger issues.

"A farmer could decide to grow corn instead of wheat like he usually grows, and become a wealthy man within a year when he sells his crop to a nearby factory, using his money to buy a bigger house and turning over the field work to paid workers instead of tending to it himself, enabling him and his wife to have more time together, producing more children who he would leave all his money to when he dies twenty years later.

"Whereas if he had grown wheat like he usually did, a disease would have attacked his farm, killing more than half of the crop and cattle, and pushing his family deeper into poverty, where they would struggle to feed themselves and their two children, one of whom would have succumbed to the disease plaguing their farm."

This little speech was said in such a manner that for a second I imagined I was talking to a man educated in the theory of the butterfly affect, or other such theories. It was only when I looked across at Mary Alice that I first realized something: perhaps, she _wasn't_ insane; maybe she really did have visions, and if so, she would make for a very fierce vampire.

I opened my mouth—to ask what, I didn't really know at that point—when a sudden scream of terror and agony echoed throughout the asylum, reverberating off the walls; the scent of fresh blood immediately followed.

Leaping up, I rushed to the door and froze. On the slight breeze that always blew through the drafty mental ward, came the scent of another vampire. Red eyes wide, I halted my breathing, allowing my other senses to grow stronger in the absence of scent.

Closing my eyes, I strained my ears, listening. All around me, the heartbeats of all the inmates thudded in my ears, as I quickly counted them. One heart was beating rapidly, faster than the others, but slowing, fading fast, in the moment of silence after the scream.

Then the asylum filled with the terrified howls of the insane.

Patients screamed, shrieked, wailed and howled like animals in their cells as the mad sensed a dangerous presence, far dangerous than mine, their caring warden. Instincts were always closer to the surface in the insane; at least, with the ones I worked with, and now all their animal instincts rushed to the forefront of their minds at the threat of this preternatural danger.

All around me, patients raced around their cells, clawing at walls and restraints; some tried to shrink into corners, while others, enraged at this threat to their lives, rushed to the doors of their cells, snarling and laughing maniacally as they peered through the small glass window, faces twisted with mad rage.

It was then that I heard Mary Alice's terrified gasp. I turned, and her grass-green eyes were wide in terror as she heard the asylum around her erupt into animalistic screeches and screams.

"He's here." She whispered, barely audible.

"Who?" I demanded, "Who's here?"

"The red-eyed man," She whispered, bringing back the memories of her terrified outburst from months ago. "He's going to kill me!" She gasped, struggling to hold in her terror; tears slipped down her face slowly.

I reached out and gently cupped her down-turned face, turning it so that she looked deep into my reddish-black eyes.

"No, he's not." I told her, and she opened her mouth to argue, but I interrupted. "I don't care what your visions say—I'm not going to let _anything_ hurt you. Understand?" I let all my love for this tiny, human girl pour into my gaze, and she blinked her teary eyes, before nodding.

"Now, do you trust me?"

She nodded.

"Then I want you to follow me and stay as close to me as possible." I told her, and taking her hand, I cautiously lead her out of the cell.

Whoever was here, they hopefully had enough sense to not steal a meal from another, older vampire, which is exactly what I wanted them to think Alice was…even if they should have known that this Asylum was my territory, and that to trespass onto another vampire's feeding grounds was sure death.

**. . . **

**AN:**** This (slightly fluffy in Bella's case) chap was completed on ****Friday, July 1****st****, 2:01PM, ****and would have been updated immediately (meaning an early update!) except for the fact that our older brother used up most of our mom's wireless card (when he got on her laptop without permission) so I can't update until an unknown time.**

**I will immediately set to work on chapter 31; hope you enjoyed this chap, now…_REVIEW!_**


	31. Giving Up The Ghost

**True Vamp Chapter 31: Giving Up The Ghost**

**Reviews:**** 269**

**Review Goal:**** 275**

**Chapter Song:****"Frozen"**** by ****Within Temptation**

**Chapter Quote:**

**AN:**** I apologize for this chap's late update…not that I have that much to apologize for; I'm probably one of the fastest & most timely updaters out there for a story already past 30 chapters and 74k+ words!**

**This chap's arrangement will probably confuse a lot of you; it switches between lots of PoV's in quick succession.**

**NOTE****: For any Lycanthropy fans out there,_ that story has officially merged with this,_ as of now. The characters from that story will be appearing in this, in a couple chaps, so be on the lookout! I think I won't be finishing Lycanthropy—True Vamp is my main priority right now, but it's funny—ironic, really.**

**You see, the first ever 'true vamp' I wrote was in the last chapter of Lycanthropy that I posted—Elizabeth, who was staying with the Werewolf Pack; heck, I even called the Cullen's _Hybrid-Vamps_ in there! Elizabeth had fangs and everything!**

**. . . **

**(Charlie PoV)—One week after the Victoria incident at Archangel HQ.**

**I can't feel my senses;  
I just feel the cold.  
All colors seem to fade away;  
I can't reach my soul.**

"_Wait!" I shouted, as I raced through the trees, following a misty, pale figure as it ran, elegant as a gazelle, between the undergrowth. Though I had yet to get a clear glance at it—It's edges were blurred; details obscured—I knew exactly who it was._

_"Bella! Wait!" I shouted again, and suddenly the forest was gone; Bella stood in front of me, facing away, and we were in a deserted neighborhood, standing in the middle of the street. Dilapidated houses stood precariously around us, some leaning on rotted foundations, others pockmarked with broken boards and smashed windows._

**I would stop running,  
if I knew there was a chance,  
It tears me apart to sacrifice it all,  
but I'm forced to let go.**

_The stench of death and decay hovered like a fog; over the houses, over the street, over me; over Bella herself._

_I opened my mouth to call out to her again—I knew that she could not see me—when from behind me came a great flash of light, like a camera. As I turned to look behind me, I saw men and women in pristine lab coats rushing towards us, wielding large lights; some of them extended on poles, some hand held; all blindingly bright, like the sun._

Behind me, I heard Bella scream, and, desperate, I waved my arms, shouting, trying to get the scientists to stop, but they wouldn't listen; they walked right through me as if I were a ghost—

"Charlie?"

**Tell me I'm frozen!  
But what can I do?  
Can't tell the reasons;  
I did it for you!**

—_Heading straight for Bella—_

"Charlie!"

I jerked upright with a gasp, eyes wide and blinking as I looked around quickly, not realizing where I was.

**When lies turn into truth,  
I sacrifice for you,  
you say that I am frozen,  
but what can I do?**

I was lying on an uncomfortably thin mattress, with metal rails on either side to stop me from falling out; the surrounding walls were harshly illuminated by the bright over-head lights, the light reflecting off the white walls, with a horizontal strip of pale, lime-green paint slashed through center, dividing the top half from the bottom as if on second thought.

It was only an instant later that I registered an insistent beeping, keeping track with my pounding heart, and that someone beside me was breathing quietly, as they watched me take in my surroundings.

I turned my head and blinked in surprise.

Standing next to me, squinting slightly against the bright lights stood a tired looking Doctor Dane Harkness.

He was as pale as ever, but the harsh white lights shining around him made him look even sicklier.

"Charlie?" He asked again, urgently, "What do you remember?"

I blinked at him in confusion, before, eyes widening, I gasped as I remembered the woman—the maniacal, supernaturally strong woman with red hair, who had disintegrated into flames seconds after catching fire.

Dane's deep black eyes bored into mine.

"There's something I need to tell you."

**I can feel your sorrow.  
(I sacrifice)  
You won't forgive me…  
But I know you'll be all right.**

**. . . **

**(B-PoV)**

All around me, the twelve other Fledglings were all talking excitedly, some of whom I had become friends with, such as Laura and Richard, the two who were closer to my physical age.

**It tears me apart,**

**That you will never know,  
but I have to let go!**

"Ok, ok, settle down please!" Antony Thorn had to shout to be heard, his scarred and burned visage highlighted by the dim lights shining down from the chandeliers suspended above our heads, "This is important!"

After a couple of seconds, the others quieted down and looked ahead at Antony in interest.

"Ok, class, as you know, my name is Antony Thorn, and I am going to be teaching you about other supernatural creatures tonight."

He paused for a moment to make sure we were paying attention, before launching into his opening speech.

"I have traveled all over the supernatural world; I have run with the Children of the Moon in the east; hunted with the Hybrid-Wolves of the Amazon; I have flown with Witches and their familiars, and witnessed the Hybrid Wars of South America. I was nearly killed by a pack of shapeshifters and one of their humans, who threw a torch at me"— Here he pointed at the burn marks on his face and arms.

There were some gasps around the room from the other Fledglings, and I shuddered at the pain he must have gone through.

"I've observed Silvescents in their true form, and… I've battled a Seraph and lived to tell the tale." He finished, and I blinked at him.

**Tell me I'm frozen!  
But what can I do?  
Can't tell the reasons;  
I did it for you.**

I could barely believe he had done all of those things; some of the creatures he named I had never even heard of. _Hybrid-Wolves? Silvescents? What __are__those?_

**When lies turn into truth,  
I sacrifice for you,  
you say that I am frozen,  
but what can I do?**

"To start with the most heard of being, whose true name is still unknown to mortals, is the race known as Silvescents—_more commonly known as ghosts."_

**Everything will slip away;  
Shattered pieces will remain.  
When memories fade into emptiness!  
Only time will tell its tale,  
if it all has been in vain!**

**. . . **

**(Carlisle PoV)**

I swallowed the excess venom in my mouth caused by my nerves as I looked through the windshield of my Mercedes at our newest house as I neared the end of the driveway. From the breeze blowing towards me, I knew that Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were out hunting, while Esme and Edward were alone in the house, with those…things. Those_ ghosts_.

**I can't feel my senses;  
I just feel the cold!**

**. . . **

**(Charlie PoV)**

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, struggling into a more comfortable position, taking care to push the wires and tubes out of the way.

**Frozen!  
But what can I do?  
Frozen!**

**. . . **

**(Carlisle PoV)**

I took another deep breath, then exhaled, before shielding my thoughts, wanting to be able to think through my words carefully without Edward barging into my mind. The easiest way to do this was to repeat phrases, or songs in your head; the more irritating the song, or the more likely to get stuck in your head, the better.

As I ran up the stairs to the front door, I began to hum along to a song I had seen on the show Torchwood, and after watching the episode about five times, (it had been one of my favorite episodes) I had finally looked up and found out that the song was Atlas, by Battles; it was the song that Owen was listening to as he cleaned his house.

It was no mystery to me why that episode was one of my favorites; I found that, surprisingly, the character I had hated the most in the beginning was now the one that I loved the most, and could understand—could _connect_ with—the most. I think the exact moment that I began to like Owen Harper as a character was where he said his reason for becoming a doctor.

"_I thought if I could save one life, mine would be worthwhile. But you save one, and there's another and another, all clawing at you, demanding to be saved. And even if you do succeed, you can never save enough. "_

**Tell me I'm frozen!  
But what can I do?  
Can't tell the reasons,  
I did it for you!**

Opening the door, I saw that the TV was on, though no one was watching it, and that both Edward and Esme were once again staring dreamily into the corner where the creatures stood as they mimicked our two deceased family members. The imitation Bella seemed to stiffen when she caught sight of me, as if she knew that I knew. Her eyes widened, then narrowed, and she glared, while clutching the imitation-Annie, closer to her chest protectively.

**When lies turn into truth,  
I sacrifice for you!  
You say that I am frozen…  
Frozen…**

"Edward? Esme? There's something I need to talk to you about—it's important." I asked, moving to stand between my family and the creatures; the only response I got was that imitation-Bella stiffened even more, eyes widening as she glared at me, her normally innocent face transforming into a mask of rage, feathered wings twitching in agitation.

**. . . **

**(Bella PoV)**

"Silvescents," Antony continued, "Are creatures that feed off of emotions—they latch onto the consciousness of a person with strong negative emotions—usually non-humans; Hybrids seemed to attract them like fangirls to midnight releases—"

There was some scatter laughter at this remark.

"Once they find a suitable…'host'…for lack of a better word, they create a psychic connection similar to the one we all share, and take the form of whomever the person wants most to see; usually taking the form of the deceased, who the host is mourning.

"This is where the legends and myths of Ghosts came from. But Silvescents are different from the myths; while ghosts usually are harmless, or enjoy frightening people, Silvescents control the mind of their host; they manipulate the emotions to make the host feel safe around them, to want to be around them, causing people to act out of character, sometimes violently, in the defense of their 'ghost'."

**. . . **

**(Charlie PoV)**

"Charlie, have you ever heard the Quileute legends? Did you know that your Great Grandfather was Tah—Quileute?" Dane seemed to stumble over the last word, as if thinking better of revealing something.

I blinked at him, dumbfounded, before nodding.

"Yeah, my grandmother used to tell me about the legends, she was half Quileute; she never did talk about my great grandfather though—not even Grandpa Gabriel mentioned him—_wait,_ how do you know I'm part Quileute?" I asked, wondering if Billy or Harry had told him this—but if they had, what for? What was the point?

"Than you know of how the Quileutes believe they are descended from wolves, and how they could take the forms of wolves?"

Again I nodded.

"But you don't believe them, do you?"

This time I snorted, shaking my head. "You can't be serious! I know Billy believes, but that's just because he grew up with everyone talking about them and saying they were true! What exactly are you getting at here?"

**. . . **

**(Carlisle PoV)**

"Edward, _Esme,_ listen to me!" I shouted, but they continued to stare past me, transfixed.

"These things—they're not real! They're not angels, or ghosts—they're creatures! Supernatural beings that feed on your emotions! They're controlling you!" I shouted again, waving my hands in front of their faces. No response.

Sighing in resignation, I turned to the creatures; Imitation-Bella was still glaring at me, but now she was also smirking, obviously delighted in my failed attempts to communicate with my wife and son.

"I know what you are." I spoke quietly, but I knew they could hear me, "And I want you to leave _now_. Leave my family in peace, or I will have to _make_ you leave?" I asked; though I hated the thought of violence, when it came to my family, I would do whatever it took to keep them safe.

Imitation-Bella smiled, and spoke.

"Oh look! The brave little Hybrid thinks he can make us run! But that's not going to happen, _is it,_ sister?" Imitation-Bella asked in a high, ethereal voice that seemed to vibrate in the air around me. Imitation-Annie laughed mockingly, in a voice just like the other creature's, before replying "No, of course not, brother! Now, why don't we take care of him now, before the other's get back?"

I couldn't help flinching back from the apparent angelic child; it was one of the creepiest things I had ever seen; an adult's voice, coming from the body of an infant.

It was only a half-second later that I registered what the ghost child had said.

"Now, now, I'm sure we can resolve this without violence—" I began, not sure what their powers were.

But Imitation-Bella interrupted.

"Kill him!"

Behind me, there was the sound of movement, and turning, I had just enough time to see Edward and Esme's fury-filled faces as they leapt for me.

**. . . **

**(Charlie PoV)**

"Charlie…you're one of them. You're a shapeshifter."

**. . . **

**AN: Another day, another chapter! Sorry about its shortness; I was writing the second chapter of Silver Bullet (my first ever Harry Potter Fanfic) literally at the same as I wrote parts of this, clicking back and forth between the different documents.**

_**Anyways,**_** who loved it? Who's angry with me for my slow update? More important, are there any Harry Potter fans reading this? If so, please check out my newest fic (as mentioned above), called "Silver Bullet".**

**It takes place in the Deathly Hallows, [Can't wait to see part 2 of the movie!] and it's what I think would happen if Harry was bitten by Greyback in the Malfoy Manner and became a werewolf.**

**If there's anyone out there who knows if it says in the books if werewolves are giant wolves or Hollywood-Style, half man, half wolf, when they transform, Please let me know! I re-read the Prisoner of Azkaban, but it never **_**once**_** said what Lupin looked like transformed, except for an off-hand comment by him, of "curling up in my office, a harmless wolf" when talking about the effects of the wolfsbane potion…so yeah, not that helpful!**

**REVIEW!**


	32. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AN READ THIS!

**VERY IMPORTANT AN! _READ THIS_!** Ok, _YES, I **KNOW**_ this is _not_ a chapter and that i probably just made a bunch of people rip their hair out in frustration; and i can't apologize enough for that! Yes, it took me forever to get even halfway through 32, but that was because of the new school year and bla bla blah, excuses excuses-it was _my_ fault, but the reason i _still_ haven't updated is _not! Weeks _ago our mom took our computer to a friend of her's to be fixed while we were at school, and guess what? she didn't tell us. No warning of, "hey, you guys should save all of your stuff onto your flash-drives, just in case"; no, she just brought it in, along with the laptop (which i am currently writing on), and we havent seen it since.

To make matters worse, on the very same day, my flashdrive breaks, the one that had all of my copies of my chapters on it and **all** my Nanowrimo writing on it. so i had to start my _entire** novel** over again! from scratch, in a spiral-bound **notebook!**_My mom _said_ she'd bring my flashdrive in to her friend to get it fixed, and _she still hasn't!_

And that's not the worst of it. this _laptop_ (said with disgust) no longer has Mircrosoft Word; the only reason i'm able top write this is because i uploaded a copy of some song lyrics from my sis' flashdrive directly onto , so that i could post this AN where someone would actually read it; but back to the worst part: i can't convert my NaNoNovel into a PDF for the final word count _without Microsoft word!_ there is no other writing program on this stupid computer that i can use, and i don't know how to get another. so yeah; thanks mom, for ruining Nanowrimo for me!

So...yeah. wanted to blow off some steem and at the same time tell you guys exactly _why _i haven't updated anything recently. as soon as our computer is back (and if **_any _**of my stories and chapters are messed up or deleteted, i'm going on a killing spree, armed with Mr. Pointy and un-chipped Spike/William the Bloody), i **will** update! so be on the look out!


	33. Where Do We Go From Here? Grande Finale

True Vamp Chapter 32: "Where Do We Go From Here?"

**Reviews: 297**

**Last Updated: 8/1/11 *guilty look, with eyes downcast…* I am so, so sorry about that…**

**AN: READ THIS PEOPLE! This is the beginning of the end; This is the _last_ chapter of True Vamp—_BUT!_ The story is not over! The sequel's Prologue will be up as soon as is humanly possible, once i finish the third chapter of Phantom Resurrection (danny phantom) and finish editing the first 6 chapters of Nahlgraafkiin, my DP/Skyrim crossover i did for Nanowrimo (and won, too!)**

Yes, yes, I know there was little to about no warning that True Vamp was drawing to a close (I only realized I should end it now before I 'get too far off track, and end up messing with my entire story plan' when I ended chapter 31), but I think that this is the perfect time to do it. Those unhappy about the sequel's HIATUS will have to bid their time, and fans of Danny Phantom will probably enjoy my newest stories, Phantom Resurrection and Nahlgraafkiin!

Also, to fans of Lycanthropy, I'm saying this now, 'cause I can't remember if I said this anytime earlier, "Lycanthropy: a Tale of the Children of the Moon" has officially merged with this story, I'm sorry if you really liked that story, but as it is, I can't really take it anywhere, so... yeah.

**Chapter Quotes: (From the Lion King; while watching it, I heard this, and thought it was the PERFECT quote for something I've been foreshadowing for awhile now! Can anyone guess?)**

NALA: "Have you guys seen Simba?"

TIMON: "I thought he was with you."

NALA: "He was, but now I can't find him. Where is he?"

PUMBAA: "I don't know"

TIMON: "He's gotta be someplace."

RAFIKI: (laughing) "You won't find him here. The king has returned!"

"_**Emmett gave me a sheepish smile, apparently over his anger, but deep in the back of his mind, where the emotions he wasn't even aware of having, his feelings of distrust and weariness for Alice and I had intensified.**_

_The same was true for the rest; they just weren't aware of it. But someday, that would change, and their acceptance of Alice and I would break, and we would be left behind."-True Vamp, Chapter 20: Exacerbation._

"_The water started getting closer and closer, so Rachel and Rebecca tried digging a mote in front, while me and Jake made a wall of sand, but the water kept getting closer and closer. Just as the water was coming up to sweep away the castle we had worked so hard on, Jacob dove in front of the castle to block the water with his body."—True Vamp Chapter 24: Mental States._

. . . 

(Renée PoV)

My brow furrowed in worry as I re-read Charlie's last email, describing his life at the newly-established Archangel Detective Agency, talking about all the high-tech computers and other gizmos, all the criminals he had helped catch, and any updates on Bella.

Concerning the last part, there were none.

He also wrote about Dane, his psychiatrist who had quickly become one of Charlie's best friends. And even though I was pretty sure Dane was supposed to have a 'professional relationship' with his patients, I was happy for Charlie.

When I reached the last sentence of the email, I closed it and glanced at the list of replies I had sent him, the numbers adding up, the dates growing later and later from when he had sent me it, until, two days ago, one of his superiors had sent an email that said he had collapsed after a deranged woman had broken into their headquarters, and was now in the hospital.

My first thought had been to immediately rush off to the hospital he was at, but almost instantly after I received the email from Archangel, I had gotten one from the mysterious Dr. Dane Harkness.

_Renée,_

_Don't worry about Charlie; I'm at the hospital right now; the doctors say he just fainted from exhaustion—he hasn't been getting much sleep, between Archangel and worrying about Bella—I would know; I'm his psychiatrist after all, _and_ his friend, but he's going to be okay._

_Don't give up hope._

_Yours Truly,_

_Dane Harkness._

A…vision (for lack of a better word) flickered through my mind, and I snorted.

"A friend!" I scoffed, "Yes, because a friend would keep _that_ a secret! How could you _not_ tell your _best_ friend that you're—" Abruptly, my mouth snapped shut, and my vision went black—

Shaking my head to clear it of a sudden dizziness, I looked at my computer and saw that it was turned off. Blinking, I struggled to remember why I had come in here, before I smiled in recollection. Turning the computer back on, I continued working on my newest project—writing a novel.

All in all, it was a perfectly normal day.

. . . 

(Charlie PoV)—(Song: Spotlight)

I stared at Dane, bewildered. His words kept repeating themselves in my mind, endlessly, as if repetition would force them to make sense.

_Charlie…you're one of them. You're a shapeshifter._

"You've got to be joking, who put you up to this? Was it—?"

"I am deadly serious Charlie!" Dane interrupted in a low hiss, his tone fierce, "You are no longer human, you are a wolf-shifter, descended from the first chief, Taha Aki! Your ancestors and now yourself have all killed Cold-Ones, what you call vampires, but my kind—" Suddenly he froze, as if realizing he had just committed a grave mistake.

I blinked at him in confusion, before running back through his words, and I too, froze.

"What do you mean, by _your_ kind?" I asked, taking a deep breath to steady my nerves—and noticed the strange smell that seemed to hover around Dane. It was a…cold smell, for lack of a better word, not a bad cold, more like strong peppermint, with the barest hint of petrichor.

His eyes widened for a second before he sighed in defeat.

"Just bear with me for now, and once you're checked out, I'll tell you everything I can. Please, Charlie, just…try not to freak out when I tell you?"

I slowly nodded, still trying to wrap my head around the information. A sudden thought struck me.

"Why am I here, anyways?" I asked wearily, "I didn't have a heart attack, did I?"

Dane looked confused. "No, why would you think you had a heart attack?"

My brow furrowed. "Bella was always worried about me having one, I don't know, I just assumed…"

"Yes, well, people _really_ need to stop reading too much into those kinds of things." Dane said, looking a bit irritated.

I just raised one eyebrow; _uhh,_ _No clue what he's talking about…_ I thought to myself as he turned to call for a doctor.

. . . 

(Jacob PoV)

"So, mom, where _exactly_ are we going?" I asked looking around the barely illuminated street, before pulling at the neck of the shirt that she'd made me wear in irritation.

Leah and I had been made to forgo the usual attire of the pack, (the bare minimum that we could get away with and still be presentable) and instead we were both clad in jeans and tee shirts, so as to not arouse the suspicions of anyone who saw us.

"There's a ship that's headed this way, picking up normal humans along with supernatural beings like us, free of charge if you're with one of my kind." She said, adjusting the thin black jacket she had donned, all the while fiddling with the zipper absentmindedly.

"Why's it free?" Leah asked suspiciously, as she walked alongside me, holding Christine's hand, their skin tones in sharp contrast to each other.

"Because it's owned by, and most of its passengers are vampires who need transportation, shelter, protection, or financial assistance."

I quirked an eyebrow; "What do you mean by financial assistance? I thought most of you vamps were super rich?"

"Oh, a lot of the older ones are, but most vampires are a member of what we call our 'family account'; whenever we make money that we aren't going to use immediately, we send it to a special account with any major branch of banks, where any of our kind can use the money—for clothes and other such things; frivolous spending sprees are intolerable, and anyone found doing so are removed from the account. If you take money, you are expected to repay it in full as soon as possible."

I nodded, wondering just how much money was in those accounts for hundreds, if not thousands of people to withdraw money whenever they wanted to.

"So, when's this ship supposed to get here?" Leah asked.

"The _Night Legacy_ will be here tomorrow. Several of the Fledglings on board are going on their first hunts tonight."

My eyes opened wide. "They're—they're not going to kill anyone, are they?" I asked urgently. Though we had been traveling with my mother for months, neither Leah nor I had seen her hunt. She always slipped away around midnight, telling us not to follow her.

Mom didn't answer.

. . . 

(Bella PoV)—Two Hours Earlier

I smiled proudly as I looked at Markus, whose eyes were wide as he looked up at me in surprise from the floor.

All around us the gathered vampires broke into applause; I was only the second Fledgling to defeat their opponent, who was allowed to use whatever skills they possessed to defeat us. Though the fight was the hardest I had ever had, I had managed to get behind Markus' guard at the last second and send him crashing to the floor.

"Told you I'd wipe the floor with you!" I said, laughing as he jumped to his feet in one fluid movement, and began dusting his clothes off. "Hey! That's bad sportsmanship!" He mock complained, while smiling at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "_I_ have bad sportsmanship?" I asked incredulously, "What happened to the 'master of doom'?" I asked referring to what he had said after one of our previous fights.

He shrugged as he leapt to land on the sidelines of the area marked for training, where everyone else was gathered to watch. Everyone had to fight two people before doing anything else in the 'morning', and Markus had only been my first opponent.

As I surveyed the crowd, wondering who would volunteer to fight, my eyes landed on Ash, who was standing near the back of the group, looking at me with a mixture of emotions on his face; pride, worry, and, surprisingly, sorrow. I wondered what that was about but didn't try and pry into his thoughts. He would tell me if he wanted, though I ached to know what had him so sad all of the time—and why he hated Santino so much.

It was obvious to me now that I had a crush on Ash, though I tried to suppress it; I didn't need any more heartbreak, and from the way Ash and Madeline acted around each other, it was obvious they loved each other deeply. Add on that I was still feeling conflicted about Edward and his family, and you got one whopping mess of confusing emotions, pulling me in two different directions. Most of the time, I was angry with Edward and his family for leaving, but in the minutes before I would fall asleep for the day, I knew I was fighting a losing battle.

A part of me still loved Edward.

And another part of me loved Ash, though he never noticed, and hated Edward for what he did, when he left me.

If only I knew how much more confusion and heartbreaking decisions I would have to make before the night was over.

Behind the crowd of gathered spectators, the door flew open, and in walked the one person I'd never expected to see again, no matter how long I lived.

. . . 

(Jasper PoV)—(Song: Lea Halalela)

"Alice, what did you see?" I whispered to her, so that neither Emmett nor Rosalie would have the slightest chance of hearing. We had finally managed to escape from the confines of the house after a week of Alice's 'attack' as Carlisle had called it. Because Alice had told no one, not even me, what her vision had been about, Carlisle had theorized that her ability, which she had had since she was human, temporarily overwhelmed her mind when there was a brief surge in it's power.

Alice paused slightly, before straightening out of her crouch, eyes turning from the stag she had been about to jump on, to stare into my eyes. "I saw my creator." She whispered, and I gasped.

"You saw the vampire that turned _you_?" I asked in amazement, "How did you know it was them? I thought you couldn't remember?"

Alice shook her head. "Jasper, this wasn't a normal vision. When I have visions, they're always from a third person's perspective; I can watch, but I can't tell what people are thinking, or see through their eyes, and it is _always_ of the present or future. In this one…it was in the past; almost a memory, and I _was_ my creator; I saw everything through his eyes, thought his every thought, I forgot who I really was, and I was _him!_ "

Feeling her emotions spiraling out of control, I pulled her into my arms and held her close as she continued, wrapping her tiny arms around my waist.

"I saw myself, when I was still human. I was in the Biloxi, Mississippi state Asylum, and Xavier worked there. He thought about me a lot; he was always curious about me, because usually, I was quiet, staring into space, instead of raving and screaming like the others; it seemed as if I was constantly having visions.

"He once thought about how I looked like one of the fair folk—he even said that if my eyes had been two different colors, he could have sworn that I was one. _Oh!_ And my eyes were grass green!" She said that last part of her monologue excitedly, and I smiled as I imagined her eyes being a vibrant shade of green, instead of gold or black.

"I saw how James' eyes looked when he saw me; Xavier was trying to protect me, but James was still new; he was stronger, and he didn't care about territories or hunting grounds. James managed to set all the other patients loose to try and distract him, but Xavier picked me up and ran down to one of the isolation cells, where the woman that Percy, the guard, had nicknamed Witch had been.

"He threw open the door, let 'Witch' out, and put me in the back corner. He looked at me and said, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this. I can't let you die." Then he bit me, and when he turned around and closed the door behind him, James was there. He was furious, because I was already changing and he couldn't play his game anymore, so he got revenge— he threw one of the patients he had hurt at him, after setting her on fire with a torch. Xavier tried to help her, but he caught on fire too, and James left him to burn alive."

I sent a calming wave to Alice, letting our closeness increase the power of my ability. "I'm sorry," I said, "It's not right that you should have had to see that. I don't know why your visions would make you live your creator's death—"

"But that's just it!" Alice exclaimed, interrupting me, "_He didn't die_! I saw him escape! That means he's still alive somewhere!" She took a deep breath to settle her nerves, calm determination taking over her emotional aura in a melody of even notes in my mind.

"Jasper, I think my visions are telling me that I have to find him; I have to go look for him—" Suddenly, she gasped, and her face went blank. In an instant her calmness shattered, to be replaced with pure panic.

She ripped herself out of my arms and raced in the direction that Emmett and Rosalie had headed, and screamed at the top of her lungs: "Emmett! Rosalie! We have to get back to the house NOW! If we don't make it in time, Carlisle could die!" Then she turned and in a flash took off towards the house, and I followed. Behind us, we could hear Emmett and Rosalie following, shouting questions at us that we ignored, and instead poured all of our concentration on moving faster.

"It's them, isn't it?" I hissed to her, keeping my voice low as we soared over the pond in the back yard. She nodded, before diving straight through the wall-length window in a shower of broken glass, before landing in a roll, springing up, and launching herself at Esme, whose deranged face was set in a twisted snarl, eyes filled with fury.

In the opposite corner, the two ghosts stood and watch with obvious enjoyment as Edward's hand, curved into bone-colored claws, ripped through Carlisle's astonished face, leaving five long, deep furrows behind before I could stop him. A half-second later, I had tackled Edward to the ground with a roar of anger, shoving him into the ground as he struggled to crawl his way to where Carlisle was lying on the ground in shock, clutching his face, one hand shakily tracing the deep gashes, golden eyes wide, dazed.

Emmett and Rosalie both burst through the door at the same time. "What are you _doing?"_ Emmett shouted angrily at the sight of both Alice and I struggling to keep our two family members restrained, and an injured Carlisle on the floor.

"It's the ghosts!" I shouted, "They're controlling them somehow! They made them attack Carlisle!"

It was then that Esme managed to get out of Alice's grasp, and she once again leapt for Carlisle's downed form, snarling. Just as she was about to hit him again, Rosalie's hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her around the waist, Alice coming to her aid.

"Emmett, come get Edward!" I shouted, and he complied, taking the struggling, snarling and spitting form of our brother from my arms; I flashed across the room to where Carlisle was, and examined the long scratches; though Carlisle was a certified doctor, I had learned medicine on the battle fields, both the mortal and immortal ones. The gashes were deep—very. You could almost see the steel-hard bones of his skull, and I knew that they would not heal properly, not for many, many years, and even then…he would be scarred for the rest of his immortal life.

Taking Carlisle's hand in my own, I spat some venom onto it and directed him to press it over the gashes. He was still in shock; in his immortal life, Carlisle had rarely been injured, and it took him a couple of seconds to regain his thoughts; with a hiss of pain, he pressed the painful but healing poison onto the wounds, which began to slowly close.

Jumping to my feet, I whirled around to face the ghosts, and if looks could kill, these 'spirits' would have been in the after life by now.

"Leave." I hissed at them, straightening my back and taking on the countenance of the persona I had not assumed for almost a hundred and fifty years. The Major.

The ghost imitating Bella smirked. "And why _exactly_ should we do that?" it asked in a wraithlike voice that was obviously male. No wonder 'Bella' had never spoken.

I let a low, rumbling growl escape in warning, my expression darkening, but I replied in a cool, calm, and collected voice. "You two—you are obviously supernatural creatures, correct?"

'Annie' scowled. "Of course! And I would mind my tongue if I were you, in the presents of those better than you._ Creatures!"_ she scoffed, "If anyone is a creature, it _is you,_ my dear Hybrid!" She cackled from the arms of her male companion.

I bared my teeth at her ignorance. "Then surely you must have heard of the vampire civil wars—"

"Hybrid!" 'Bella' interrupted, and I sent a glare her way, while hiding my confusion at her insistence on using that term.

"_Hybrid_ civil wars of the south?" I asked, incorporating their word for us.

With a roll of their eyes and a smirk they both nodded, before 'Bella' asked "And why exactly is this important?" here 'she' turned to face 'Annie', "in fact, why are we even talking? We should just kill this stupid, little, nameless Hybrid now!"

A sneer spread across my face, transforming it into a mask of pure darkness and power. "It's The Major." I said.

"What?" they both asked at the same time, looking confused.

"You said that I was a nameless 'Hybrid'. But I'm not. My name is Jasper Whitlock; more commonly known among my kind as… _The Major!"_

I snarled the last two words, sending a tsunami of terror and horror to the two specters, and with a shriek and a shout, both of them leapt backwards, abject terror in their eyes as they shrank back into the shadowy corner, 'Bella' clutching 'Annie' protectively as she struggled to shield the ghostly child from my view.

I smirked; now _I_ was in control. "Show me your true forms!" I ordered, sending a wave of obedience to them, while my family watched in shock: they'd had no idea how fine a control I had over my powers, or how it was I had become the most feared fighter in the immortal civil wars. They'd just assumed it was my fighting skills, which I had never revealed in their entirety.

. . . 

(Bella PoV)—(Song: Over You)

"It was just like that sandcastle we had built at the La Push beach with Jacob and his family, and the water just kept getting closer and closer, relentless in the destruction of our castle.

But there was no five-year-old to jump in the way of the crashing waves this time; no—if I wanted to save what was precious to me, _I_ would have to stand up and take charge; no more waiting for a knight in shining armor to rescue Isabella Swan, the perfect damsel in distress who didn't think about herself, always focusing on how to help others, not even trying to help herself—I could and _would_ solve my own problems; face my own fears, fight my own battles, learn my own lessons and struggle to reach my own solutions. It was time to make my own way in life.

Starting now.


End file.
